Wisdom
by dragonupgost
Summary: What is the truth behind the Jedi code, could they have possibly misinterpreted it, and would its true meaning ever be found again. The mind of a child is truly a wonderful thing but could a child's mind change thousands of years of rigorous tradition? Only if that child was an Uzumaki!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: From Youngling to Padawan**

" _For forty years, the Jedi Code has been my focus, as it will be yours. It is the philosophy upon which stands the Jedi order."_

 _Grand Master Fae Coven_

* * *

Emotion, yet peace.

Ignorance, yet knowledge.

Passion, yet serenity.

Chaos, yet harmony.

Death, yet the force.

This was the original Jedi code, created by the first ever Jedi council, who had studied the force on the ancient planet of Tython for hundreds of years. The meaning of it may have changed over the years, but few have been able to decipher its true meaning. Emotion, yet piece, means to allow your emotions to guide you but without allowing them to control you. Ignorance, yet knowledge, means to be ignorant to all that would turn you evil and knowledgeable to what would help the light. Passion, yet serenity is very similar to the first verse, meaning that you should be passionate about things but not to the point of mind warping obsession. Chaos, yet harmony is more of a point of view pertaining to each force user and is not to be interpreted on a wide scale, less its individual meaning be lost. Death, yet the force illustrates that even if your physical body dies, you shall live on through the galactic force, becoming truly one with everything in the galaxy.

This divide on the meaning of the original code split the once united force users into two eventual factions, one being Sith and the other being Jedi. With the division, both groups took what they thought the meaning to the extreme. The Sith became to emotional, too ignorant, to passionate, caused too much chaos, and spread too much death. The Jedi became too peaceful, to knowledgeable, achieved too much serenity, achieved almost selfish amounts of harmony, and tried to understand the force without truly connecting to it.

This is where the young Padawan learner, Naruto Uzumaki, found himself struggling in his life as a Jedi. He thought over these things as he road in the transport ship next to his fellow Padawan Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka Tano was a young Togruta female with orange skin, her species natural markings, and had a spark in her blue eyes that most Jedi Masters would find troubling. Naruto, on the other hand, was a human boy with bright spiky blond hair, brighter blue eyes than Ahsoka, and whisker marks on his cheeks, almost giving him an animalistic look.

"Are you as excited to be out of the temple as I am?" Ahsoka asked, glancing over at her fellow Padawan, who looked like he was about to be sick from when they just now entered the planet's atmosphere.

"I hate flying," Naruto groaned, holding his stomach to try and calm its constant flipping every time the shuttle so much as shook even an inch.

"You were never good at the piloting simulations Naruto, honestly it's not that bad," the young Togruta chastised, rolling her eyes at Naruto's wimpish behavior.

"If we were meant to fly then we would have wings, not flying metal coffins specifically designed to explode at any second. I'm telling you Ahsoka, flying is for droids!" Naruto shot back with an equal amount of disapproval in his tone, only for Ahsoka to once again roll her eyes.

The rest of the flight, or trip through hell as Naruto would call it, lasted only a few minutes longer before the shuttle thankfully touched down on the ground and its hatch slowly lowered. Outside of the shuttle was what once was a towering city with many large buildings, several green rocks sticking up out of the ground, and two Jedi knights looking right at the both of them. The youngest one was no doubt Anakin Skywalker and the other, more seasoned looking Jedi, was Obi-Wan Kenobi, the famed negotiator that so many talked about.

" _Two_ younglings?" Obi-Wan questioned aloud before he and Anakin shared a look of mild surprise.

"And who are you two supposed to be? Master, I thought you only put in a request for one Padawan not two?" Anakin asked, looking over at his equally confused former master and long time best friend.

"I'm Ahsoka Tano and this is Naruto Uzumaki, master Yoda sent us. We were told, to tell you, that you two must get back to the Jedi temple as soon as possible, there's an emergency," Ahsoka tried her best to explain while Naruto quickly got over his earlier motion sickness and straightened up.

"I don't know if you've noticed or not, but were in a bit of a bad situation ourselves!" Anakin growled out, his frustration at not having reinforcements getting the better of him, but Obi-Wan was always the calmer of the duo.

"Indeed, our communications have been down and we've been trying to call for help."

"Master Yoda hadn't heard anything, so he sent the both of us to deliver the message," this time it was Naruto who cut in, before Ahsoka could so much as open her mouth to speak and this did little to calm the already temperamental Skywalker.

"Oh that's just great, they don't even know we're in trouble!"

"Ahsoka, do you think the cruiser that just dropped us off could transmit a signal back to the temple, so master Yoda could tell them himself what the situation is?" Naruto asked his fellow Padawan.

Anakin paused at that, his frustration being replaced by embarrassment of not thinking about that idea before hand. It only took them a few seconds to contact the orbiting ship, which was currently under heavy attack, but they got through the master Yoda none the less.

"Master Kenobi, glad Ahsoka and Naruto found you, I am," the little green Jedi said a few seconds after his projection appeared in hologram form.

"Master Yoda we are trapped here and vastly outnumbered. We are in no position to go anywhere or do anything. Our support ships have all been destroyed and our men our exhausted from the constant fighting," Obi-wan argued, trying his best to get his point across to the grandmaster of the Jedi order.

"Hm, send reinforcements we will," sadly it would seem the damage to the cruiser currently in orbit was causing the transmission to slowly flicker out before it cut out completely, much to the four Jedi's worry.

One of the clones aboard the cruiser explained that they would need to retreat and come back with a larger force, for their one ship couldn't handle the five enemy ships currently blowing them apart piece by piece. The transmission then cut out the moment they went into hyperspace, leaving the fate of the planet to the small group of soldiers still there.

"Well that's just great, it looks like we'll have to hold out a little longer," Anakin groaned aloud, but he wouldn't let this little setback get the best of him, the clones were counting on him to get them through this alive.

"Our apologies, it seems that in all this rabble, none of us have been properly introduced to one another. I'm Obi-wan Kenobi," Obi-wan introduce, placing his hands behind his back as he walked around the holoprojector to face the two new Padawans.

"I'm still trying to figure out why master Yoda sent two Padawans when he was only supposed to send one?" Anakin inquired, folding his arms over his chest and giving Naruto and Ahsoka a skeptical look.

"I was assigned to master Obi-wan and Ahsoka was assigned to you master Skywalker. We were told that you already knew about this?" Naruto questioned as he gave a bow to his new master while Ahsoka did the same, although a little stiffly, to Anakin.

"What!? No no no no no, there _must_ be some sort of mistake. He's the one who wanted a Padawan," Anakin said while pointing intensely at his old master, who was trying to hide his own grin at Skywalker's current situation.

"No, master Yoda was _very_ specific, I'm assigned to master Skywalker and he is to oversee my Padawan training," Ahsoka boasted triumphantly, as if she just took down an entire Sith army all by herself.

"But that doesn't make any sense!"

"Perhaps it would be better to sort all of this out later, when we aren't staring down an army of droids whose sole order is to kill us all?" Naruto suggested, believing that there were larger issues that who gets what Padawan.

"I agree completely, my new Padawan, it's only a matter of time before those droids discover a way around our cannons and then we're all in trouble," Obi-wan agreed before Anakin stormed off, followed closely by his new, although he would never admit it, Padawan.

"You and Ahsoka seem close, did the two of you train together during your youngling days?" Obi-wan inquired as he began to walk the perimeter with his new Padawan, who ironically mimicked him by folding his arms behind his back as he walked.

"Yes and no master, she was in the Clawmouse clan while I was part of the Bergruufta clan. We first met during our later lightsaber training classes. I was studying Makashi and she was studying Ataru and Djem So. Needless to say, our bond started out rather rocky," Naruto tried to explain, being careful not to make his and Ahsoka's friendship seem like an attachment, which was forbidden by the Jedi.

"Why study only one form, especially one meant for facing other lightsaber and force wielders?" asked Obi-wan, who remembered another once great Jedi who used the second lightsaber form as their own preferred style.

"The force guided me."

It didn't take long for the droids to return, this time with a shield covering them and slowly growing larger so they could advance without fear of the Republic's artillery. Surprisingly, it was Ahsoka who suggested that they knock out the shield generator and let the artillery continue doing what it does best. Although Anakin didn't appear to like how Ahsoka seemed to just take charge and, more often than not, be about as stubborn as he was. So as they slipped behind enemy lines, it was Obi-wan's and Naruto's job to keep the battle droid army distracted and away from the heavy cannons. If those cannons were destroyed then there was no chance of them winning, not with the small number of soldiers that they still had.

"We're inside their shield, just stay away from those tanks," Obi-wan stated as Rex, Anakin's most trusted Captain, knelt down next to him next to the edge of the building they were on.

"Are all of our missions going to be like this?" asked Naruto as he and his master both pulled out their lightsabers, although Naruto's had a curved hilt, and activated them at the same exact time.

While Naruto may have trained in the second lightsaber form, that didn't mean he was helpless against blasters. The moment they hit the ground, with Obi-wan already cutting a droid in half, Naruto saluted the entire army of droids before following his master's lead. Using the force to guide his movements had always been Naruto strong point, so he was able to move his head or block incoming attacks well before they made contact with him.

"Naruto, fall back with Captain Rex and the others, I'll cover your retreat!" Obi-wan yelled over the roar of blaster fire coming from both sides as he did his best to block any blaster bolts that came his way.

"Yes master!" the blond haired padawan yelled back as he ran into the buildings that the clones had retreated into, leaving his new master to do everything in his power to stall the enemy, even if it meant giving up his life in the process.

Sadly it seemed that fighting in the building only slowed the droids down, instead of leveling the playing field as they had hoped, and so they were now back to fighting in the street with large rocks being used for cover. While the clones fought using their own weapons, it was Naruto who was reaching out to the force, using something he had only ever attempted in the peaceful confines of the Jedi Temple. It was made most famous by Jedi Master Odan-Urr, Arca Jeth, and Nomi Sunrider, it was the Jedi Battle Meditation. The purpose of Jedi Battle Meditation was to inspire your side while demoralizing the opponents. Sadly this doesn't work on droids but it was doing wonders for the few remaining clone soldiers.

"Whatever you're doing kid keep it up!" one of the clones yelled with no sense of hopelessness in his tone as they continued to hold the line, never giving an inch while taking down many droids with much more accuracy and speed.

"I can only keep this up for a few more minutes, try and make the best of that time!" Naruto managed to say through clenched teeth, finding that he was losing control over the Battle Meditation the longer he tried to use it.

"Sir, sir the shield is going down!" another one of the clones yelled and, sure enough, the shield was slowly fading away, leaving the tanks open for the Republic artillery.

"Artillery, take those tanks down!" Rex yelled at the top of his long and, for the next ten minutes, there was nonstop cannon fire, followed by a road filled with destroyed tanks and battle droids.

As the reinforcements finally landed, Naruto found himself resting up against a slanted piece of stone while Obi-wan and master Yoda discussed what happened during that final fight. After all, very few Jedi have possessed even the slightest ability of Battle Meditation and never at such a young age.

"Full of surprises you are, young padawan. Unaware I was of any Jedi having the Battle Meditation potential," said possibly the most powerful, not to mention oldest, Jedi alive at the moment.

"Indeed, where did you learn to do such a thing?" Obi-wan inquired, rubbing his chin while awaiting Naruto's answer.

"Um, from the record of Bastila Shan," Naruto answered while his cheeks darkened in embarrassment, having never had so much attention from such powerful Jedi before and it was a little nerveracking.

"Unexpected this is, but unwelcome it is not. Caution you must take when training in such abilities, less ambition drive you to the dark side, A strong padawan you have, master Kenobi, teach him well you must."

"Naruto, hey Naruto!" and like that the serous moment was lost as Ahsoka Tano came running up to her fellow Jedi padawans, before she saw master Yoda and Kenobi looking right at her with equally bemused looks on their faces.

"Ahsoka, I thought I would be rid of you for sure this time," Naruto teased, successfully lightning mood as Anakin approached them, looking less irritated than the last time Naruto had seen him.

"Whatever you say whiskers, you aren't that lucky," Ahsoka shot back, giving Naruto a smug grin.

"Hm, trouble you have, with your new padawan, I hear?" Yoda asked, placing both hands on top of his small cane, to better keep his balance.

"I was just explaining the situation to master Yoda," Obi-wan interjected while Ahsoka's eyes lowered to the floor, not wanting to meet anyone's eyes.

"Really?" and now Anakin was starting to sound grumpy again.

"If not ready for a padawan you are, return to the temple she can."

"Now wait a minute, Ahsoka may be stubborn and a little rough around the edges, but with the right training, she might amount to something," Anakin admitted, making his padawan's face light up with joy and a small smile form on Naruto's face as he got to his feet.

"Then go with you she will, to the Teth system," the Grand Master of the Jedi order commanded, now making Anakin even more confused.

"The Teth system, but isn't that wild space? There's no way the droids are out that far in wild space, especially when it has to strategic advantage," Anakin argued, only for Yoda to nod in agreement.

"Correct your are, kidnapped Jabba the Hutt's son has been, rescue him you must. His trade routes we need, or lose this war we will," Yoda explained as he turned and made his way towards the nearest gunship, leaving the rest to Obi-wan.

"I'll be negotiating the treaty with Jabba myself, so your mission is to simply rescue his son," Obi-wan said while he placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Master, if the main fleet is going with master Skywalker, and I don't have my own ship yet, how will I travel with you?" Naruto asked Obi-wan.

"You won't be, your abilities would be better suited with Anakin and Ahsoka, but I promise to begin your real training the moment the mission is over," Kenobi promised and Ahsoka couldn't be more excited if she even tried.

"Come on whiskers, lets go get the troops ready," Ahsoka declared, dragging Naruto away before he could so much as say another word.

"Obi-wan, not to question your wisdom, but why are you giving me your padawan when I already have to look after my own now?" asked Anakin.

"Because that padawan was able to you Battle Meditation to help our men hold the line against the advancing droids before the shield went down. The force tells me that you will need him for your mission more than I will need him for mine."

"Say what?"

Aboard the large Republic cruiser, which was remaining in orbit for the time being, Ahsoka was telling all the nearby members of the 501st how she saved her master by nearly dropping a wall on him. Naruto just sat on a pile of crates next to her and smiled every time Ahsoka supposedly did something extraordinary.

"Heh, between you and Naruto here, we should have this war over in no time. Honestly kid, what you did back there was the second most impressive thing I've ever seen a Jedi do," Captain Rex praised as he pat Naruto on his shoulder, while receiving several nods of agreement from his fellow clone brothers in arms.

"It might take a little more than two padawans to end this war Rex, but it's a good start," Anakin joked as he walked through the crowd of clone and stopped just beside Ahsoka.

"Come on Skyguy, it could be fun," Ahsoka laughed just as they dropped out of hyperspace.

"Alright men, get to your stations, it's time to save a baby Hutt!" Anakin ordered as his men rushed to their areas and got ready to dive head first into an uphill battle, literally.

The moment they stepped into the gunship, with the three present Jedi dawning their ominous cloaks, Naruto felt like he was going to puke again. It was so bumpy entering the atmosphere and don't even get him started as to when the droids began shooting at them. Although, despite how sick he was feeling, Naruto noticed a worried look in Ahsoka's eyes. She was afraid, having never been in a large scale battle before, and the blond haired Jedi felt his power could possibly put her mind at rest. So that's what he did, Naruto reached out to the living force, feeling every living being on the entire planet, and began his battle meditation.

"Welcome to paradise Rock Jumpers!" yelled the pilot over the intercom as the blast doors swung open to reveal the horrors of war going on just outside.

The first thing Naruto witnessed was a clone trooper being blown to bloody bits by a lucky cannon shot. Naruto watched, in horror, as red liquid stained the battlefield and made his entire body freeze in shock. He wasn't prepared for this, this was his first time properly leaving the temple, and he shouldn't even be here! The blond haired Jedi was suddenly shook out of his thoughts when he felt Ahsoka's hand on his shoulder and found her locking eyes with him.

"Stay close to me, I'll protect you," Ahsoka promised, hiding her own fears away to bring Naruto back to his senses.

"R-Right, lets go," Naruto agreed, regaining control of his body and forced himself to move forward, with Ahsoka running in front of him to guard him from the blaster bolts.

Naruto had always admired how skilled Ahsoka was in Ataru and Djem So, but now wasn't the time to be distracted. He tried to keep his mind off of the death happening around him, these clones were counting on him to use his battle meditation to give them an edge and he couldn't afford to fail them. The moment they reached the base of the slick mountainside, Naruto broke off from Ahsoka and climbed aboard one of the AT-TE's before it began to literally walk up the mountainside as if it were flat ground. From inside the massive vehicle, Naruto began to block everything else out and tried to focus only on using his battle meditation.

For Ahsoka and Anakin, they felt like they could read everyone else's thoughts, as if the entire attack force was now moving as one. Their reflexes seemed to be faster, they could aim better, and they all moved with extreme precision.

"Way to go Naruto," Ahsoka grinned as she landed on top of Naruto's AT-Te and started deflecting any shots that could take out the operator.

Naruto's focus was suddenly shattered when the, wall climbing, tank suddenly began to tip backwards. The piece of earth had given out and so did Naruto's battle meditation, which meant the clones lost their edge. Remembering that Ahsoka had been on top of the AT-TE, Naruto leaned out a hatch and saw Ahsoka holding onto the front of the tank for dear life. That's also when several speeder droids rounded on them, in an attempt to take out the heavily armored tank before it could do more damage to their troops at the monastery.

Now, while Naruto may only know one form of lightsaber fighting, he was a little more advanced when it came to his force abilities. So, after closing his eyes to concentrate, Naruto forced one of the speeders to crash into the one next to it. The explosion then torched the other three before they even had a chance to get off a shot.

"Thanks whiskers, I owe you one!" Ahsoka called down as she managed to get back on top of the six legged tank.

"More than one," Naruto grumbled to himself as he shut himself back inside the tank, trying his best to salvage his battle meditation.

It wasn't easy, but between the three Jedi and large clone attack force, they managed to take the monastery back from the droids. Ironically, it was Ahsoka who saved Anakin from some rather nasty shielded droids, by blasting them with the AT-TE's main battery. Naruto now found himself sitting on the edge of the platform, his feet dangling over a rather nasty drop, and his thoughts a million miles away.

"You alright there kid?" asked Captain Rex, who had noticed the young padawan all by himself and not resting with the men.

"Hm? Oh yea, I just have a bad feeling about this place, it feels like something is just _wrong_ here. I don't know how to explain it," Naruto admitted, standing to his feet before he turned to face the clone Captain.

"Is this one of those Jedi things?" Rex asked, not really sure on how to give the kid advice if it was a Jedi thing.

"Maybe it's just nerves, this was only my second ever battle and it happened less than a day after the first one."

Just when Rex was about to say something else, Naruto felt a strange presence creeping through the area. It felt like a black worm wiggling its way through the shadows and it put the young padawan on edge. That's when Naruto saw it, a cloaked person looking down at them from one of the monastery's upper floors. Rex followed Naruto's gaze and, the moment he saw the figure, he shouted at his men to take figure quickly ducked back inside, just as Anakin and Ahsoka came running out with the Hutt junior, and the clone's lowered their weapons.

"Is something the matter Rex?" Anakin asked, walking up the his Captain.

"We're not alone here sir, the kid here spotted someone and they ducked back inside the monastery when the rest of us spotted them," Rex reported as Naruto walked around the mother of them to look at the tiny Hutt.

"Hey Ahsoka, how's our little friend here?" Naruto asked, holding out his hand so that the little Hutt could play with his fingers, getting a giggle from the tiny slug.

"Well he isn't looking too good, I think he might be sick." Ahsoka admitted, holding out the baby for Naruto to further inspect.

"He's a baby not a sack of potatoes, Ahsoka," Naruto chided as he took the baby from Ahsoka's outstretched arms and held him like a baby should be held.

"Come on, you two, we should contact Obi-wan and give him an update," ordered the senior Jedi while the three of them walked over to Anakin's Jedi starfighter.

After a few second of setting up a connection, Naruto found himself looking at a miniature version of his recently appointed master.

"I take it you've found Jabba's child?" asked Obi-wan, crossing his arms.

"Yep, he's a real splitting image of his dad. Also, it looks like the Separatist are behind his abduction, This feels like Count Dooku's doing." Anakin said, with no small amount of sarcasm in his voice, while Naruto continued to rock the small creature in his arms.

"I'll bet Dooku is somehow using us to get Jabba to join his cause. I want you three to get here as fast as you can, if we're lucky then we can outrun Dooku's plan," Obi-wan ordered as his apprentice place Jabba's son in a backpack, with his cloak being used for padding.

"It might take us a while, the baby is sick and he won't survive the trip back home," Ahsoka informed Obi-wan, which only seemed to make the man look all that much older.

Wherever their conversation may have led, it was interrupted by the sound of several ships breaking through the planet's atmosphere. Looking up, Naruto's eyes widened at the sight of two droid carriers and a fighter squadron coming right towards them.

"Oh crap."

"Everyone inside, now!" Anakin yelled, pointing to the large building behind them.

They would have no chance to get their gunships in the air, or turn their tanks around, before the droid carriers would get to them. However, they could barricade themselves behind large metal doors and pray that reinforcements would get there soon. Since Naruto was carrying the little Hutt, he and Ahsoka made a run for the doors so that the mission objective wouldn't be in even more danger than he already was.

"Come on, move, move, move!" Rex yelled, to his clone brothers, as the majority of their forces provided covering fire from behind large pillars.

With a dull thud, the large metal doors closed and the two forces were cut off from one another, for the moment at least. There was no doubt in Anakin's mind that the droid forces would eventually get through that door and they didn't have enough men to hold the main entrance if it came to that.

"R2, see if you can find us a way out of here, we won't be able to hold this place long enough for the reinforcements," Anakin ordered before turning to give more orders to his men, most of whom might not make it out of there alive.

What Anakin didn't notice was Naruto drop to his knees, close his eyes, and fold his hands together. He needed to center himself, he needed to remember his training and not fall prey to the fear of possibly dying. Yet it was Ahsoka's hand on his shoulder that helped him calm his nerves, that and repeating the Jedi code over and over in his head.

"It's going to be alright, we'll make it through this," said Ahsoka, reassuring her long time friend, as he gave her a soft nod in return.

"General, their beginning to get through the door!" one of the clones yelled as the massive door slowly began to rise off the ground.

"Ahsoka, I want you and Naruto to get as far away from here as possible, we will hold the line. Once you've reached a safe enough distance, and hopefully Obi-wan has arrived with reinforcements, use your locator beacons to get Jabba's son off this planet," Anakin ordered as his lightsaber sprung to life and he turned to face the oncoming storm, leaving no room for any form of argument.

"But master we can help!" leave it to Ahsoka to argue when there was no time to argue.

"Ahsoka, if you two don't get that hutt out of danger then all of this will have been for nothing, now go!" Anakin's orders were final, but to took Naruto grabbing Ahsoka's arm to get her to move away from the imminent battle.

As the ran down the hallways, with Ahsoka cutting through droids that were already hidden within the monastery, they could both hear the sounds of battle in the primary chamber. With Anakin there the clones had at least some chance against the droid forces, but neither padawans could deny the fear they felt in their pounding hearts. R2 had been leading them through the winding hallways, having apparently located a proper way to escape, and boy could that little droid move fast. It only took them a matter of minutes to run through the entire monastery and reach a secret landing pad.

"Well, I guess this is as good a place as any to wait. R2, make sure and lock the door behind us," Naruto ordered the little droid, who had already closed the massive doors behind them, since no one wanted to be caught between enemy droids and a thousand foot drop.

"I can't believe we just abandoned them like that, we could have helped!" Ahsoka yelled, slamming her small fist into the stone wall, only to feel Naruto's hand rest itself on her shoulder, just like what she did to him not ten minutes ago.

"Everything's going to be alright, we're going to make it through this," Naruto promise, only to receive an annoyed glare from his fellow padawan.

"It's not fair, using my own words against me, I thought I was supposed to be the tough one," Ahsoka joked, barely able to form a half smile on her face.

"I may not be that strong in the middle of battle, but I can be strong when helping a friend. Now come on, we need to find a better place than this if those droids managed to get past master Skywalker," Naruto said before the entire platform shook from a nasty explosion under it, which also seemed to wake some bug like creatures that had nested underneath it.

Peaking both their heads over the side of the platform, both padawans saw two spider droids climbing up the cliff-side and blasting at the supports underneath it. With each blast, Naruto could feel the ground underneath him cracking, meaning that they would fall at any moment.

"Crap, R2 get those doors back open!" Ahsoka yelled as another tremor shook the, already unstable, platform.

"This would be one embarrassing way to die!" Naruto shouted, attempting to get as close to the door as possible, before the doors opened just enough for the two Padawans to slip underneath it and it was just in time for the platform to collapse.

Just as they thought they were safe, the familiar sound of blaster fire suddenly let them know that they were nowhere near safe. If not for Ahsoka's quick reflexes, and the fact that her lightsaber was already in hand, they red bolts of death would have struck Naruto right in the chest. It appears that the droids managed to get past Anakin's defense and the two padawans were unlucky enough to run right into one of their patrols.

"We need to get out of here, we can't protect the baby from this many droids!" yelled Naruto as he activated his own lightsaber and helped Ahsoka deflect the bolts right back at the droids, slowly thinning their numbers little by little.

"There's no where to go!" Ahsoka yelled back just as Republic Clones began firing at the droids from behind, catching the metal machines off guard and drawing fire away from the two Jedi.

"Naruto, Ahsoka, get out of there!" Skywalker shouted, from his position in front of his men, trying to get both of them out of harms way.

With as much speed as they could both muster, Naruto and Ahsoka ran right through the droids, cutting four of them in half on their way through. The moment they reached the remaining clones, Naruto instantly dived behind cover before taking the baby Hutt and placing him down behind a corner.

"Master, what happened to the defense at the main hall?" asked Ahsoka while standing right next to Anakin, helping keep the fire off of the clones.

"They had bigger guns, not to mention more troops, than us. We needed to even the odds and these hallways are narrow enough to cluster then if the hallways are long enough. What's your excuse, I ordered you two to get out of here?!" Anakin yelled over the blaster fire, finally diving behind covered when the droids began to focus.

"We tried to but some spider droids blasted the platform out from underneath us, we had no choice but to come back this way!" Ahsoka yelled back, unaware of two super battle droids aiming their rocket arms at the Republic forces.

"Rocket inbound!" one of the clones shouted, just as three rockets were fired at them.

Time seemed to slow down, as the three rockets came soaring down the hallway, missing the first few clones. Anakin himself barely moved his head out of the way, the fire from the rocket almost burning his face from close proximity, before the rockets continued down the long hallway and exploded once they hit the back wall. The agonizing shouts, of men being blown apart by fire and metal, was drowned out by the sound of the actual explosion. The shock wave itself sent a few other clones flying while the entire temple shook violently.

The sight of so many dead, or still screaming, men was beginning to take its tole on Naruto once more. Body parts, torn off by the explosion, lay scattered about with blood having been burnt into the very walls itself, and Naruto couldn't stand the sight of it. He couldn't stand the screams, he couldn't stand the death, and he wanted it all to stop! Little did Naruto realize that the very walls around them began to crack under the strain of the force. Naruto gripped his head, attempting to block everything out, but it was just too loud! Something was beginning to come over him, something that changed his eyes from azure to a sinister crimson.

"Stop it!" Naruto shouted, as he suddenly ran out from behind cover, unaware of the force energy that was gathering around his hands, to the point that it was actually visible to the naked eye.

Lashing out, Naruto sent a force push so strong that it actually turned the droids into grey dust, ripped the forward hallway into pieces, and blew the large metal door wide open. There was now complete silence among the Republic forces, as compared to the fighting that was just ended, and everyone was staring at the Jedi padawan.

"Holy shit," a clone, somewhere in the background, said before Naruto's body suddenly went limp and he passed out onto the ground.

The last thing Naruto heard was the sound of his fellow Jedi calling his name.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: A Force of Will**

" _If you young students know anything, you know this: The Force is an energy field created by all living things."_

 _Grand Master Fae Coven_

* * *

The Jedi are blessed with the gift of swimming in the Force in the very moment - breathing it, tasting it, riding its currents to their unique destinies. Each Jedi had a part to play, a small piece of the puzzle that was meant for them to fill in and yet not all Jedi could see this. The Jedi were called hypocrites, for fighting in a way yet proclaiming that they wished for peace. People called their code brainwashing, yet they do not know just how terrible a force user could be if left on their own. They forget the Sith, whom use their power to corrupt others into slavery and would kill any who stood in their way. Yet this isn't what brought the Jedi council into a meeting, with all of its members assembled in the same room, something that hasn't happened since the start of the Clone Wars.

No, the topic of their meeting wasn't some distant battle, or even a Sith trying to take over the galaxy, but that of a newly appointed apprentice by the name of Naruto Uzumaki. A child, taken from pre-spacefaring planet not three days after his birth, and having been raised at the temple his entire life. There was nothing inherently odd about him, compared to other humanoid species, yet he had done something almost unthinkable. He somehow managed to use a force push powerful enough to turn hardened metal into nothing more than dust in the wind.

"A strange case this is, heard of such a child, capable of such things, I have not," said Grand Master Yoda, who had the attention of every master that made up the Jedi Council.

"What of this padawan, has his situation changed any since the incident?" Jedi Master Plo Koon inquired, his tone being distorted by the breather that he constantly wore, preventing anyone from reading his facial features for a sign as to what he was thinking.

"No, he still remains in his coma, our healers have been unable to wake him. They describe it as an impenetrable wall preventing them from entering his mind. One of the healers attempted to push through the mental barrier and was physically thrown across the room. Whatever it happening to the boy, it would seem that we won't be able to help him in the traditional way," said the Tholothian Corellian Jedi Master, Adi Gallia, who had taken it upon herself to oversee Naruto's healing procedure.

"Skywalker said that the padawan screamed for the fighting to stop before he lashed out, is there anything about the boy's past that would suggest he was caught in a battle of some sort?" asked Master Windu, rubbing his chin as he gained a thoughtful look.

"No, his records show that this was his second time ever leaving the temple, with the first being to construct his lightsaber. In fact, many of the instructors claim that he was a very peace loving boy and would often choose to meditate instead of attend any large sparring matches. If anything, this boy should have become a scholar instead of a padawan to a general, no offence Master Kenobi," said Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, who got a nod of agreement from Obi-wan.

"Could this have happened _because_ it was his first major battle?" Obi-wan inquired, believing that the simple stress of the situation could have resulted in such an outburst of force power, although such a thing should be impossible for one so young.

"Hm, many questions there are, find them in this room we will not. Go to the padawan myself, I shall," said the oldest living Jedi as he dismissed the high council and slowly began to make his way through the large Jedi temple, with his destination being the medical wing.

For over a thousand generations the Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice, yet they were not above making mistakes. For too many had fallen into the darkness, believing it to be some great power that only the most powerful of the force could access, and this led to many wars. Every Time Yoda thought of these things, he liked to remind himself that so many had also been saved, so many heroes had been created out of those dark times.

Meanwhile, in the medical ring of the Jedi temple, Ahsoka Tano could be found sitting at Naruto's bedside, having only left his side when the healers tried to find out what was wrong with him. Anakin had given her permission to get some r&r and she was free to spend it however she wished. When she had seen Naruto drop, back in the middle of all that chaos, she thought one of the droids had shot him. It may not be what the master's teach, but Ahsoka felt that bonding with Naruto had actually made the both of them stronger.

"Come on whiskers, wake up already," Ahsoka whispered as she placed her hand on top of his, not noticing the small green Jedi Master enter the medical room.

"Interrupting am I?" asked master Yoda, scaring Ahsoka right out of her chair while silently hoping he hadn't noticed that she had been holding Naruto's hand.

"No, of course not, Master Yoda!" Ahsoka said, possibly a little louder than she should have, giving the aged Jedi a nervous smile.

"Sit please, many questions I have," Yoda said, motioning for the padawan to sit back down while he jumped into the one across from her, since the chair itself was even taller than he was, much to his annoyance.

"Has there been any improvement, the healers haven't told me anything yet?" asked Ahsoka, who had been trying to get answers ever since the healers first tried to wake him, and that had been hours ago.

"No, the same he has been, close friends you are?" asked Yoda, his old age giving him the experience needed to know when someone is nervous or is hiding something.

"Um, yes master, ever since we were younglings, we've looked out for each other," well honesty is the best policy after all.

"Hm, friends so faithful, warms my heart this does. Hm yes, a strong bond I sense, perhaps strong enough to wake him?" Yoda inquired, looking from Ahsoka to Naruto, a thoughtful look upon his aged face.

"Master?"

"Lash out at us he does, unfamiliar we are to him, yet friends you two are. Perhaps reach him you will, succeed where we failed you can," master Yoda explained, motioning for Ahsoka to step closer to Naruto.

"I wish that were true master but he won't wake up no matter how much I ask him too, he's always been so stubborn," Ahsoka silently laughed, remembering a time when it used to be impossible to wake Naruto before he actually wanted to wake.

"Tired you look, reast you should," Yoda said before he got out of his chair and walked out of the room, leaving the two padawans to themselves once more, although the conversation was rather one sided.

Meanwhile Obi-wan Kenobi could be found alone, in his room, meditating to delve deeper into the force. He felt shame for allowing his new padawan, one that he has barely even known for a day, go into battle and be forced into such a state. Yet his shame would not help his apprentice recover from what had happened to him. The only thing Obi-wan could do was have faith that Naruto would wake up and that he would not fail his padawan again.

"I know you're there Anakin, you've not yet reached the level where even I cannot sense your presence," said Obi-wan, who never even looked behind him to know his former apprentice was hiding in the shadows and had been for the last several minutes.

"You've been in here ever since we got back, I'm getting worried, oh and I've never been good at hiding my presence anyway," said Anakin as he walked up behind his old master, crossing his arms and waiting for Obi-wan to turn and face him.

"I needed time to think about everything that has happened, I couldn't go into this with a clouded judgement," said Obi-wan as he stood up and walked through the door leading to the hallways of the temple, with Anakin following right behind him.

"Well Ahsoka has been by his side every free moment she has and Rex send his sympathy, apparently word has spread about your padawan's incident. Truthfully I'm worried about him as well, his eyes turned red just before the incident began and even Ahsoka could feel the fear coming off of him," said Anakin, voicing his concerns.

"You believe that he may have drawn from the dark side?" asked Obi-wan, not wanting to admit that such a corruption could have already presented itself to his padawan.

"Can you think of another reason, I mean I looked through his record and he has never shown such power in the force. I don't like it either but there is a chance he unknowingly drew in the dark side as used its power to do what he did," by now both Jedi had entered the medical wing and approached Naruto's cot, where Ahsoka could be found.

"Masker Skywalker, Master Obi-wan," Ahsoka greeted without getting up from her chair, she was too concerned with her friend to leave his side at such a time.

"Has there been any change Ahsoka?" asked Obi-wan as he walked around to the other side of Naruto and looked up at the monitors, hoping to make some sense of the information that they displayed.

"I'm afraid not and whatever happened to him isn't allowing the healers to do their jobs, or so Master Yoda said. He said that whiskers here keeps subconsciously lashing out, with the force, every time they try and do anything to wake him."

"This is troubling, is there truly nothing we can do to help?" asked Obi-wan just before Naruto suddenly sprang up like he just got hit by a bolt of lightning, not to mention the sudden action nearly gave Ahsoka a heart attack.

Everything was silent for a moment, that kind of silence that usually came around whenever people were too shocked to really do anything. Naruto just sat there, unblinkingly as he stared at the three Jedi that stood before him, the next thing Naruto knew was Ahsoka nearly knocking him off of the bed with the force of her hug.

"You're awake, you're awake, I knew you'd wake up!" Ahsoka continued to cheer happily, not paying attention to the two smiling Jedi masters, as she continued to hug the best friend she thought would never wake up from whatever had happened to him.

"Um, yea I'm awake, what's up?" Naruto asked, unsure as to what he should do and looked over to his master of a little advice, to which he found the bearded man smirking...well that was no help at all.

"Ahsoka, I think we should let Master Kenobi and his padawan talk in private," Anakin suggested with Ahsoka's argument dieing on her lips when Naruto gave her a small nod, she would accept his wishes but that doesn't mean she had to like it.

"Yes Master, I'll come by and see you later whiskers," Ahsoka promised before she followed Anaking out of the medical wing, leaving Naruto and Obi-wan to speak in private.

So they talked, they talked about what Obi-wan would teach Naruto once he was ready to be released and they talked about what it would be like being Obi-wan's apprentice. He told Naruto that there would be times where he would have to go back into battle, although he said it as gently as possibly, but there was a noticeable hesitation whenever such a subject came up. Obi-wan even gave Naruto an option to be assigned to a different master, maybe one that studied at the temple and wasn't a general in the war, but Naruto was committed even if he was unsure of himself. Naruto truly believed that a person was only as good as their ability to stay true to what they've committed themselves to.

The very next day Naruto was released from the medical wing, with the approval of Obi-wan of course, and proceed to the outdoor training grounds. It wasn't often that a master would take their padawan back to the training grounds but Obi-wan felt it would be best to train Naruto in a controlled environment, less anything happen.

"Now normally I would instruct you in one of the seven lightsaber forms but, seeing as you favor the second form, I believe we should start from there. We will begin when you are ready," said Obi-wan, a training saber in their hands, as Naruto nodded and gave a salute to his master and moved forward to attack.

Obi-wan was slightly stunned at just how precise Naruto's strikes were, how each moved was constantly trying to slip through his guard with an almost inhuman elegants, it showed just how much time Naruto had dedicated to Makashi. Yet Obi-wan's own impenetrable defence, something of which he was renowned for held up to his padawan's precise slashes and stabs. Ten minutes of constant movement between the two had caught the attention of many onlookers, for Naruto was proving difficult to tire, even when he was doing most of the attacking.

"I must say, you have an astounding amount of stamina," Obi-wan praised as he continued to block Naruto's attack, showing how Soresu could keep one alive even under a relentless assault.

Naruto wasn't delusional enough to think he would win if this was a real fight, Obi-wan was simply testing his skills and had yet to even take a single swing at him. Just was Naruto was about to strike again, Obi-wan held up his hand and signaled him to stop, the training saber stopped just inches away from Obi-wan's hand.

"Good, very good, your skills are much greater than what I was led to believe, but I know that your chosen form leaves much to be desired in the way of defence against anything other than a lightsaber. If you would like, I would teach you Soresu so that you could properly defend yourself against anything that attacks you," Obi-wan offered as Naruto smiled up at him with possibly the happiest smile he had ever seen.

"Alright, lets get started," Naruto said as Obi-wan took a basic Soresu stance and motioned for Naruto to mirror him.

For close to four hours, Naruto mirrored Obi-wan's every movement as best he could, not even stopping for a break. It was calming actually, Naruto felt that smoothing going through the motions was helping him relax, almost as if he wasn't still shaken up from what happened the last time he was in battle. Now, after those four hours of training, master and apprentice could be found kneeling together and meditating upon the galactic force. Obi-wan didn't expect Naruto to grasp it the first time, or even the next hundred times, but he could feel there was something special about his padawan.

"Master Kenobi, why do the other Jedi stare at me?" Naruto asked, breaking both their concentration, while Obi-wan let out a small sight, not wanting to have to approach this subject so soon after the incident.

"Some of the Jedi Masters believe that your sudden display of power could have originated from your fear on the battlefield, they believe you may have unconsciously pulled upon the dark side of the force," Obi-wan admitted, noticing Naruto's eyes widen for a second before they fell to the ground, as if he was ashamed.

"All I remember is wanting all the fighting to stop, I felt the force listen to me, and then I woke up in the medical room. I don't know how it happened, or even why it happened to me, but I would never use the dark side," Naruto tone was low, borderlining depressing, and he looked as pale as a sheet.

"Of that I have no doubt, I've known you for only a few short days and already I can tell you will make a great apprentice, maybe even a great Jedi Master. There will be trials along your journey but know that I will be by your side, to help you as much as I can," Obi-wan said in possibly the kindest voice ever imaginable, which seemed to lift Naruto's spirits.

"I won't let you down Master Kenobi, that's a promise!" Naruto declared as he got to his feet and gave his master a thumbs up, before rushing back inside the Jedi temple, leaving Obi-wan just sitting there with a grin on his face.

"He almost reminds me of Anakin at that age."

Not two weeks later, with every free moment spent training, Naruto and Ahsoka could be found wandering the Jedi temple. They didn't really have a specific destination in mind, they would simply turn random corners on a whim, all the while talking about anything that came to mind. Ahsoka had been purposefully avoiding the incident on their first mission, feeling it better to let Naruto talk about it when he felt he was ready.

"Master Kenobi said you and Master Skywalker are going to be shipping out soon," said Naruto as the rounded another corner, thought Naruto thought they might be somewhere by the records, or perhaps by the old youngling rooms?

"Yea, apparently there's some big bad Separatist ship out there that keeps taking out our transport ship, the council wants us to guard these transports. Personally I think we should be hunting this thing down, instead of sitting around waiting for it to come to us," said Ahsoka, a bit of bite to her tone, as she folded her arms and scowled.

"You shouldn't scowl so much, your face might get stuck like that," Naruto teased, poking Ahsoka in the side to get a giggle out of her.

"Shut up, my face won't get stuck, I won't fall for your tricks again!" Ahsoka declared in the most dramatic way possible, after swatting Naruto's hand away with a light swing.

"You did when we were younglings," Naruto teased even more.

"At least I didn't get my skin dyed blue on accident," Ahsoka shot back, this time Naruto's cheeks colored ever so slightly.

"You're the one who sprayed me with the pain!" by now both Padawans were laughing as hard as they could, with many Jedi stopping to stare at the unusual amounts of happiness that vibrated through the entire temple.

"Anyway, I should probably go find Skyguy and figure out when I'm leaving, want to tag along?" asked Ahsoka as she turned to walk back the way they came, only to find that she had been too distracted to pay attention when they had been walking.

"Come on, I'll show you the way back," Naruto said, a sigh escaping his lips, as he grabbed a hold of Ahsoka's hand and began directing her back to where Anakin usually relaxed, meaning he was outside training with some of the other Jedi.

A week later, Naruto found himself standing on the bridge of his master's capital Republic cruiser. Obi-wan had also been ordered to escort Republic transports and, so far, everything had been rather quiet. Obi-wan still trained Naruto, whenever they had free time, but the constant vigilance left much time consumed.

"I know that these escort runs leave much to be desired but they are needed to insure our men get fresh supplies," said Obi-wan as he walked up to stand beside his padawan, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"I don't mind actually, the less amount of fighting the better. Master Kenobi, how could this war have started in the first place, do people really wish to harm one another so much?" Naruto asked, looking up at Obi-wan as he did so.

"As much as I wish it wasn't so, some people wanted this war to happen, they wanted to make a profit from the suffering of others and no one was able to stop them. Trust was broken on boths sides, lies whispered into the wrong ears, but there is one person that is behind all of this. A Sith Lord, someone who had manipulated the events that have led up to this war and perhaps is still doing so. If there is one person to blame then it is this Sith," said Obi-wan in a tone that Naruto hardly recognized.

"Sir, we've got enemy contacts dropping out of hyperspace!" yelled the clone soldier that was in charge of monitoring the radar and, sure enough, three massive Separatist cruisers, along with four support frigits, suddenly appeared a right in front of them.

"Tell the transport ship so leave without us, get our fighters out there before their bombers reach us, and send a message to the Republic that were are engaging the enemy!" Obi-wan yelled just before all hell broke loose.

"Master, I can help our men by using my battle meditation!" Naruto yelled just as the entire ship shook, the result of missiles hitting their shields.

"Alright, do what you can."

Moving to the far corner of the bridge, a place where no one would have to move around him to defend the ship, Naruto sat down and began to focus. The battle meditation came easier to him this time and it's effects were almost instantaneous. However, it was a single clone commander, one that went by the name Cody, that noticed where this new found awareness was coming from and all he could do was give a rather forced smile.

"Welcome to the war kid."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Caught by the Enemy**

" _The pillar of Knowledge is the most important of the three pillars you will study during your time as an Initiate."_

 _\- Restelly Quist, Chief Librarian of the Jedi Temple_

* * *

This battle had not gone as Jedi Master Obi-wan Kenobi thought it would, more like hoped it would, but he wasn't one to wonder what he might have done different. Three of his cruisers were now dead in the water, as well as his own capital ship, but they didn't have so much as a scratch on them. No, the battle had gone as planned, more so with his padawan's help, but all of that changed the moment a massive ship had jumped into the fight. It was a monstrosity in it of itself, with it's size dwarfing even a Republic cruiser, and it was flying under a Separatist flag. The source of it's power didn't go to it's many turrets, or even the mind numbing amount of fighters that swarmed from it, not it's power lay in its ion cannon, the largest ever placed onto a single ship.

They had fried all electrical systems before the Republic ships even had a chance to lock onto them and Obi-wan had no idea how long it would take for their ships to be blasted into pieces. The Jedi master felt one of the cruisers, the one on the port side, explode and the shockwave shook the cruiser with enough force to cast them adrift. If that hadn't been bad enough, Naruto had run off to the engine room to help get the engineers out of there when a part of the engine had collapsed. Obi-wan had already ordered that everyone get to the escape pods but he couldn't leave without his padawan, it was his job to protect and guide Naruto.

"Naruto, Naruto where are you!" Obi-wan shouted, as he entered the burning engine room, while the entire ship suddenly shook from an incoming volley of turret fire and the smoke prevented the Jedi master from seeing too far in front of himself.

"Cough, Master Kenobi, cough I'm over here!" Naruto shouted, over the roar of the fire, as Obi-wan followed his voice and found his apprentice, with Commander Cody, trying to get a clone engineer out from under a fallen metal beam.

"Sir, we can't get these beam off of him and I don't think we have time to sit around here and figure this out!" yelled Cody, who was using another beam to get some leverage over the much heavier object, while Naruto had his lightsaber out to cut some of the debris off of the engineer.

"Naruto, I need your help," said Obi-wan, who reached out with his hand and began to focus on the force, trying to lift the beam up.

Naruto followed his master's movements and also began to focus on lifting the beam, he forced every ounce of his desire into the force, he wanted that beam off of the engineer and he was going to make it happen. Ever so slowly, the beam began to float off of the engineer, allowing Cody to pull him out from under it, before the ship shook again and interrupted both Jedi's concentration. Cody had barely managed to to get the man out before the beam came crashing down, but they couldn't relax just yet, they still had to get off the ship before it explodes.

"Come on, there's not much time before they hit something important and then we won't be able to escape no matter what we try!" yelled Cody as he hoisted the man over his shoulder and they made a break for one of the few remaining escape pods.

As they ran through the, now burning, ship, all three of them were constantly tossed around by explosions every few minutes. Those turrets were shredding up the ship like it was made of wet paper and they had no idea when they would accidently run into a hull breach, or worse, be caught when the ship eventually exploded. Naruto, for his part, was having a hard time keeping himself calm through all of this, the only thing that kept him level headed was the fact that they needed to get to an escape pod. It was his natural instinct to survive that allowed him to focus. Luck seemed to be on their side as they rounded one final corner and found a single escape pod still open and ready for use.

"Everyone strap in, this isn't going to be pleasant!" Obi-wan yelled as he punched the launch button and they were suddenly launched off into space, just in time to watch the massive cruiser convulse before exploding in a wave of fire.

Naruto held onto his seat, for what felt like dear life, and tried his best not to puke at all of the jerking movement. A few seconds later the stabilizers kicked in and slowed the pod to a gentle stop. In an instant, Obi-wan moved over to the injured engineer and used his limited medical knowledge to see how bad he was hurt, both inside and out. Cody moved over to the long range transmitter, which looked to have been damaged in the explosion, and Naruto moved to his master's side.

"Master Kenobi, what are we going to do?" asked Naruto as he helped lay the injured clone on his back before pulling his hands away when he felt something warm and sticky coat the palms of his hands.

Naruto's eyes widened at the red liquid that stained his hands, the whole experience of the past hour was catching up with him, and the blonde padawan found it nearly impossible to focus on anything but the blood.

"Naruto, Naruto I need you to stay focused, if we don't help this man then he will die. Do you understand Naruto?" asked Obi-wan, who was both trying to keep the clone alive and prevent Naruto from having a panic attack, although his words seemed to somehow get through to his padawan.

"Y-Yes master, what do you need me to do?" Naruto asked in a shaky voice, forcefully prying his eyes away from his hands.

"It doesn't look like he has any internal bleeding but he has several broken ribs and possibly a broken leg. Naruto, I want you to find two pieces of metal and tie them around his leg, like a brace," Obi-wan ordered as he began to remove the engineer's shirt and rip it into long strips to help bandage the many bleeding cuts around his body.

Naruto instantly went to work, looking around the escape pod for anything he could use for a brace, but in the end he wound up removing a panel from the wall. Using his lightsaber, Naruto cut the panel into four strips, about a foot and a half in length, before ripping the sleeve off of his cloak to tie the metal to the clone's broken leg. It took about another half out before the clone was guaranteed not to die from his injures, sadly dying from the vacuum of space was another story entirely.

"Cody, how goes our call for help?" asked Obi-wan, as he used his cloak to wipe the blood from his hands, while glancing over at his silent apprentice.

"Well the transmitter is practically fried, so we won't be able to get a holo message out, but I think I can send out an old code we clones were tought. I can't guarantee that the droids won't pick it up through," Cody answered, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to keep himself focused on their current situation rather than all the brothers he just lost.

"Do what you can, being capture by the Separatist at least gains us the chance to escape, an option we don't have at the moment," said Obi-wan, thought he knew that the droids would sooner blast them to pieces than risk taking them prisoner.

"Yes General."

With a small moment to rest and collect himself, Obi-wan sat down next to his apprentice and attempted to find the proper words for the occasion. Honestly, Anakin had probably been the easier apprentice to train, Skywalker had always been one to push through things that got in his way, but Anakin hadn't been a padawan during a time of war. Obi-wan could see the potential in Naruto, he could see the young man becoming a better Jedi than even himself, but being around so much violence would change the boy. This left Obi-wan in quite a dilemma, one that he wasn't sure could be turned into something positive.

"You did well Naruto, even with all of the chaos around you, you remained calm and did everything in your power to help," Obi-wan meant for them to be encouraging words, words he had used when Anakin had been through a great trial, but Naruto was not Anakin Skywalker.

"When the first cruiser was destroyed, I could feel all those lives being snuffed out so quickly, I felt so cold inside," Naruto whispered, more to himself than his master, as he gained a far away look in his azure colored eyes.

"Naruto, I can not even begin to understand what you're going through right now, I wasn't trained during such a large scale war. However, I do know that you have the strength in you to push past this moment, you have the will to not let this moment of darkness forever drag you down. I will help you through it, come," Obi-wan said as he sat down on the hard metal ground, followed by his padawan, and they both began to meditate.

They remained that way for an entire hour, neither of them moving besides their steady breathing, and this left Cody in an almost mind numbing silence. The message had already been sent, roughly half an hour ago, but Cody seriously doubted anyone nice would receive it. Further more, Cody was really concerned that the monster of a ship was still hanging about, although it really wasn't doing anything besides just sitting there. The logical thing they would be doing would be searching for survivors because even Cody knew that you would want to keep a ship, like that, hidden from your enemy as long as possible. Meanwhile, several thousand light years away, an entirely different conversation was taking place between one formal apprentice and the master of the Jedi order.

"What do you mean we haven't heard anything from them, Obi-wan is in command of one of the largest fleets we have, how can we not still be in contact with them?!" asked Anakin as he slammed his hands down onto the table he was leaning against and glared downwards.

"The ships he was ordered to protect, arrived they have, but overdue Master Kenobi is. Destroyed, his fleet could be, captured he could be, unknown to us the answers are," said Master Yoda, not all that surprised at how irritated young Skywalker was, for everyone knew how close he was to his former master.

"If he's in trouble then give me permission to go get him, we've already protected our ships and have the fuel to spare!" Anakin declared, unaware of the shock that Ahsoka was currently in, because he wouldn't stand by while his mentor was in trouble.

"No, if lost they are then endanger your ships you will," Yoda ordered, before ending the transmission, just before Anakin slammed his robotic hand into the table with enough force to put a sizable dent in it.

"Master, what are we going to do?" Ahsoka asked, trying to separate her own instinctual fear from the situation, as she looked up at Anakin who was attempting to calm himself down.

"We...we do as we're ordered and continue back for the next escort," Anakin managed to hiss out the sucrose in his robotic hand began to whine under the force he was squeezing it, not to mention how frightening he looked as his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Master!" Ahsoka shouted, she couldn't believe her master would say something like that.

"I'm going to the bridge, go get some rest because we have a long couple of weeks ahead of us," said Anakin before he simply turned around and walked back to the bridge of the ship, leaving Ahsoka to just stand there with her arms crossed.

Meanwhile, three hours later, back on the escape pod, Obi-wan and Cody could be found monitoring the short range radar, actually they were keeping an eye on that massive ship that practically destroyed their entire fleet all by itself. By now they had an accurate read on just how large the ship actually was, the problem was they would eventually run out of survival necessities and they couldn't afford to just sit around anymore. Also, the injured clone engineer had woken up had woken up just a few minutes ago and volunteered to take a look at the escape pod's remaining systems.

"Master Kenobi, shouldn't we have received aid by now?" Naruto asked as he tried to keep his mind off of their current predicament.

"Normally I would say yes, however there is still the possibility that they didn't receive our message. We need to consider the possibility that our only hope of rescue is actually the Separatist ship that nearly killed us," said Obi-wan, not liking the idea any more than the other occupants of the pod.

"Sir, with all do respect, they're more likely to kill us than they are to help us," said Cody, knowing that a clone like him would be killed while the two Jedi would be torture for information, something that Cody knew was worse than death.

"Yet, if we stay here, then we will eventually run out of oxygen and possibly starve to death," pointed out the engineer clone, who was ironically named Hammer.

"I don't think we have much of a choice anymore," said Naruto as he pointed out the viewport at the Separatist hunter droids that was currently approaching them.

The droids must have noticed the Jedi General inside the pods because they didn't just shoot the glass and vent them into space. A Jedi General was a valuable resource to have, especially when some among the Separatist army took a great amount of joy in breaking as many Jedi as they could get their hands on. After what appeared to be a short transmission, the escape pod was suddenly jolted before it began a short trip towards the large Separatist ship.

Meanwhile, aboard the massive dreadnought of a ship, Count Dooku himself monitored the escape pod that had been captured by their tractorbeam. The Count would have normally ordered the pod to simply be destroyed but he could sense Obi-wan Kenobi aboard it. Kenobi wasn't the sort of information pool that Count Dooku would waste just to see another dead Jedi. Not to mention his sources claim the Kenobi has a new apprentice, an apprentice that could be used against him in many ways.

"Have three squads of Super Battle Droids stationed at the hanger, I don't want Kenobi to have a chance at escaping deeper into this ship," Dooku ordered his tactical droid, a droid that was built for the sole reason of outthinking Republic strategist.

"For a single Jedi?" the droids deep mechanical voice asked, it's eyes flashing with every word it spoke.

"Obi-wan Kenobi is not one to be underestimated, treat him as a man with a more cunning mind than even your own. Anything that you may plan has already been taken into account by Kenobi," said Dooku as he continued to watch the slowly approaching escape pod, using the force to gather a better grasp as to who else is with the Jedi.

As they drew closer to the massive ship, Naruto could feel a coldness the likes of which he has never felt before. Naruto felt as if all the heat in his body had suddenly been drained and all that was left was a bottomless pit of pure despair. There was something simply _evil_ about this monster of a battleship, someone on it just screamed death and hopelessness. Just as Naruto was about to try and slip back into meditation, which would hopefully decrease this dread he was feeling, the entire pod shook as they slipped into one of this ship's main hangers.

"Don't make any threatening movements and don't resist, we want to make it out of this alive," Obi-wan ordered as the pod suddenly dropped onto the hanger bay floor and three squads of massive droids surrounded it with their rocket arms pointed at the pod.

The droids then began to cut through the hull of the pod, their torches piercing the thick metal like a hot knife through butter. Obi-wan and the two clones placed themselves in front of Naruto, to make sure that at least he would survive any possible attack. It took another few minutes for the droids to cut through the pod completely but, once they did, the metal men took little time to subdue the four Republic citizens completely.

" **Don't move Jedi,** " one of the massive droids ordered, its deep voice vibrating through Naruto's mind as he felt the massive cannon bury itself in his back.

"Hey, leave the kid alone you damn clanker!" Hammer shouted, only to find himself on the business end off three more blasters.

" _Count Dooku wants them taken down to the prison block, get em moving,_ " ordered one of the skinny light brown droids, who had yellow paint on its body to show what rank it was compared to the more common droids.

" **Roger roger.** "

As they were marched through the massive cruiser, Obi-wan was mentally keeping track of where they were in conjunction to the main hanger bay. If they got a chance to escape then one of those transport ships would be the only vehicle they would be able to use to get away. It also turns out that the droids didn't consider Naruto much of a threat, if the fact that they didn't bother searching him for weapons was anything to go by. Still, Naruto had decided it would be best to hide his lightsaber deep in the confines of his robes and the droids seemed to be none the wiser.

As it turns out, the ship was so ridiculously massive that they needed a train system to get from the hanger area all the way to the prison block. It took them roughly twenty minutes to actually arrive at the prison block, with Obi-wan still keeping track of where they were in comparison to the main hanger.

" _Count Dooku wants them all in a separate cell, we don't want them plotting any escape attempts_ ," ordered the droid, that was in charge of the prison cells, as he deactivated the crimson shields that cut the prison off from the rest of the ship.

As Naruto was roughly shoved into his own personal cell, which consisted of a metal bed and a place to relieve himself, the young apprentice had to catch himself lest his hidden lightsaber slip out of his robes. Naruto took a moment for himself, he had to calm his racing heart before he had a panic attack, and boy did he deserve one right about now. This was the second time he had been put into mortal danger and Naruto had a feeling that he wouldn't be getting out of this situation anytime soon.

'Come on, the Republic should have been here by now,' Naruto thought as he sat down in the middle of his cell, tucking his legs under himself, before closing his eyes and beginning to meditate.

'Please, someone please come and help save us,' Naruto thought, but little did he know that his voice was echoed through the force itself and flowed into the mind of a young Togruta padawan that had been asleep in her quarters after being dismissed by her master.

On the Venator-class Star Destroyer, better known as the Resolute, Ahsoka Tano shot up in her cot like she had just been ducked in an ocean of freezing cold water. An agonizing chill crawled its way up Ahsoka's spine as she felt as if the temperature had suddenly dropped to a hundred below zero. A voice had just echoed through Ahsoka's mind, a voice that she thought she would never hear again, and Ahsoka knew it wasn't just her imagination. With renewed determination, Ahsoka raced out of her room, nearly knocking down a clone trooper as she did so, and made a mad dash for the bridge.

"Move it, out of the way, common people!" Ahsoka shouted as she darted between the several hundred clones that kept the massive Star Destroyed working, Ahsoka knew that every moment she wasted was a moment that could really kill her friend and anyone else that had survived whatever had happened to them.

As Ahsoka burst onto the bridge she found herself also barging into another meeting between Anakin and the Jedi council, sans Obi-wan Kenobi of course.

"Ahsoka what are you doing here, I thought I told you to get some rest?" asked Anakin, only to be nearly shoved out of the way as Ahsoka turned to address the council itself.

"Their alive!" Ahsoka practically shouted, making the council members look at each other as if they had just been smacked in the face.

"Information you have, Padawan Tano?" asked Jedi Grandmaster Yoda, the olding living Jedi in recent history.

"Naruto is alive, he called out to me through the force not five minutes ago," Ahsoka explained as she tried her best to get her panting out of control, she had never run so fast in her entire life!

"Ahsoka we talked about this!" this was not a subject that Anakin wanted to bring up again, hearing the council refuse them permission was hard enough the first time and he didn't need to hear it again.

"What makes you say this little Ahsoka?" asked Master Plo as he adjusted his breather mask, something of which had become a habit when he was interested in something.

"I was sleeping in my quarters when I heard Naruto call out for help, I know it sounds like I was just dreaming but I'm telling you that it was him. He could possibly still be alive and we need to go and save him," Ahsoka declared, but the council still didn't look convinced.

"Hm, it's still too risky to send a fleet into a possible trap, we would be risking a thousand more lives just to save one," said Mace Windu, although his tone of voice told everyone that he wanted to send out his own fleet to retrieve any possible survivors.

"Masters, if I may, what if Ahsoka and I took a single ship to investigate if there really are any survivors. The rest of my fleet could still continue on with its missions and we would know, for sure, if anyone really did survive Obi-wan's battle," Anakin suggested, he believed he finally had a way to get the information he needed and still keep those other ships safe on their trip.

"Yet put yourself in danger you do, hm. Leave this decision to you the council does," said Yoda before the transmission to the council was cut and Anakin turned to find his apprentice just staring up at him.

"Alright snips, prep the _Twilight_ , lets go on our rescue mission," Anakin finally said.

"On it Skyguy!" Ahsoka shouted in glee before taking off down the hallway, this time nearly knocking over Rex as he came onto the bridge.

"Um, are we going somewhere sir?" asked Rex as he approached his general, who gave him an all too familiar smirk.

"Just on a rescue mission that may end up with us taking on a large amount of droids. Why, do you want to come along?" asked Anakin and Rex knew instantly who they were going to rescue and he knew a few clones that felt they owed a little Jedi padawan a favor.

"Yes sir and I may know a few brothers that might want to join us."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Escape Part 1**

" _The Force will rejuvenate your body and sharpen your mind, even in brief moments. You can practice deeper states during your daily sessions. Try to achieve Empty Meditation which purges your negative emotions and lets you step back from attachment._

 _\- Skarch Vaunk, Jedi Battlemaster_

* * *

Ahsoka Tano thought that it was only going to be herself and her master that was going on a suicide mission to rescue Naruto and Obi-wan from Separatist harm. Try to imagine her surprise when no less than twenty clones, all armed to the literal teeth, could be found bordering the _Twilight_ while Captain Rex talked to Anakin. Anakin apparently noticed his padawans appearance because he waved her over before turning back to Rex.

"Get the men settled in Rex, Ahsoka and I will plot a course to Obi-wan's last known location and we can start our search from there," Anakin ordered and, with a salute, Rex also boarded the rather beat up looking ship.

"I thought the council said for us to go alone?" asked Ahsoka but Anakin just crossed his arms and gave his padawan an all too familiar grin.

"They didn't say anything about volunteers, now let's get this show on the road. The sooner we get to Obi-wan's last known location, the sooner we find our captured friends."

Onboard the massive Separatist superweapon/command ship Obi-wan Kenobi found himself in an all too familiar situation. The Jedi master was currently being held up in a containment field with his lightsaber missing and Count Dooku walking circles around him, just like when he was back on Geonosis. Obi-wan noticed that Dooku looked slightly older than the last time they had seen one another in person and that the effects of the dark side had become more prominent in the once famed Jedi Master. There was even a subtle ring of yellow in Dooku's eyes and his skin seemed to be several shades lighter.

"I'm pleased to see that you have survive the destruction of your fleet. Tell me Obi-wan, what do you think of the destructive capability of my latest weapon?" asked the count as he continued to circle the rotating Jedi, who kept having to turn his head to look at Dooku.

"I think that the fuel required for it must put quite the dent in your funding, perhaps you should have gone a more eco friendly rout?" asked Obi-wan, having learned from Anakin that there is no better way to get under your enemy's skin than to insult thin in some way.

"I see you've taken some hints from young Skywalker but know that such quips will do you no good here. I won't waste any of our time by having my droids torture you for information, you're resistance to such brutal methods in very well known, although I wonder how your padawan will fair under the same methods?" Dooku inquired and the mocking smile on Obi-wan's face vanished in the blink of an eye.

"He knows nothing Dooku, interrogating him will give you nothing," Obi-wan already knew what Dooku's game was, the Sith was planning to torture Naruto until Obi-wan gave in or the boy died at the hands of the torture droids.

"I'll be sure to record it for you, so that you can witness what your silence has done to the one you are sworn to protect," Dooku mocked before swiftly leaving the cell that Obi-wan was locked in, unaware that the Hammer and Naruto were in similar situations.

As Dooku walked down the lifeless metal halls that made up his prized weapon, he could feel the dark side warping to his will, here he was the master and all others bent to his will. Yet when he came to the cell that held Naruto Uzumaki, the padawan that destroyed so many of Dooku's droids with the power of the force alone, the Sith met resistance. The boy's cells did not contain enough midichlorians to do such a thing and yet it had happened none the less. Even now the light side of the force seemed to shine like a beacon in the darkness, but Dooky would make sure that such a light was snuffed out one way or another. With a wave of his hand the door opened and Dooku found the young padawan in the typical meditative stance, which was odd because most would be trying any way they could to escape.

"Do you know who I am boy?" Dooku asked the young padawan, his eyes turning the typical Sith yellow and his shadow seemed to grow until in dwarfed Naruto's form, and yet Naruto didn't break his meditation for even a second.

"You're master refuses to answer my questions, I fear that because of his silence you will experience a pain the likes of which you have never felt before," Dooku continued and yet Naruto still remained completely still, which was beginning to grate on Dooku's nerves.

"You will look at me when I speak boy!" Dooku finally roared as his right hand lashed out and sent a vault of force lightning at Naruto with enough force to send him flying against the cell wall and let out a loud cry of pain.

This time Naruto slowly got back up, resuming his meditative position, and continued as of Dooku hadn't nearly just killed him in a fit of rage. Meanwhile Dooku couldn't understand the sudden change in the boy's attitude, the recordings from his droids showed the boy to be scared of combat and he only exhibited raw power when he was in a highly emotional state. This didn't make any sense, what had changed so suddenly that a padawan ignored a Sith Lord?

"Now I see, you knew your true self would break under the pressure so you separated your mind from your body by entering deep into the folds of the force. No matter, while your mind may not break from the torture, I will make sure you awake to find that your body has broken in its place," Dooky promised before he signaled two droids to carry the blond padawan to one of the interrogation chambers because if he could not break the padawan then he would use the padawan to break the master.

"Jump to hyperspace within the next twenty minutes, I don't want to give the Republic any chance to rescue our captives or discover this ship," Dooku ordered before following the droids to the interrogation room and also ordering a camera droid to be present so that Obi-wan Kenobi can watch the torture of his padawan over and over again.

Fifteen minutes later the _Twilight_ exited from hyperspace and the occupants of the cockpit found themselves speechless the moment they laid eyes upon the graveyard that had once been Obi-wan's fleet. Ahsoka herself felt a cold chill crawl up her spine at the thought of Naruto being somewhere in the corpses of the once mighty Republic cruisers, yet it was Anakin who instantly began scanning the area for any signs of life.

"What the hell happened here?" Rex asked as he leaned over to copilot chair and gazed out at the destruction before them, not believing that a Separatist force could wipe out so many Republic ships and not suffer any losses of their own.

"I don't know but the scanners just detected a massive ship orbiting the sun and it looks like its hyperdrive engines are powering up!" Anakin shouted an alarm before he took control of the ship and blasted off towards the Separatist superweapon.

"Master, we don't even know if that's the ship or if Naruto and Obi-wan are on it!" Ahsoka shouted in alarm as she held onto her seat for dear life, Obi-wan was right about Anakin's insane flying!

"Trust me snips, they're on that ship. Rex get the men ready because the moment we dock we're going in!"

Anakin pushed the _Twilight's_ thrusters, to the point that they threatened to explode, as he maneuvered the ship towards Dooku's dreadnought. Anyone who didn't have such a strong connection to the force would have found it impossible to do some of the maneuvers Skywalker was pulling off, but they were gaining on the ship none the less. Just as the massive destroyed entered hyperspace, the _Twilight_ spun one final time and latched onto one of the exterior docking ports, followed by Ahsoka letting out a breath she didn't even know she was holding.

"Where did you get your pilot's licence?" Ahsoka asked as she climbed out of her seat and thanked the force they had survived Anakin's flying, but Anakin just grinned at her.

"What licence?"

(In the _Twilight_ cargobay)

"Alright men do one last weapons check because in a few minutes we'll be fighting an entire ship full of clankers!" Rex barked at his men, who went to work putting on their helmets and doing one final check over their weapons.

"Regretting you came Rex?" Anakin asked his Captain, who just grinned while holstering his two blaster pistols before picking up a rifle.

"Two Jedi and twenty one clones against an entire ship full of clankers? I'm thinking that I should only use one blaster just to make it a fair fight," said Rex before he put on his helmet and loaded the rifle in his hands.

"Rex, I just wanted to say thanks for coming with us and to all of you for risking your lives like this," Ahsoka thanked, she would be forever grateful to the clones before her for volunteering for the equivalent of a suicide mission.

"It's what we're bred for Commander Tano, protecting the innocent from the big bad monsters!" one of the clones cheered, which set off a cheer from the rest of his brothers.

"Ok, so here's the plan, R2-D2 finished hacking the ship's computers and located the prison block, it looks like Obi-wan, Commander Cody, Naruto, and another clone managed to survive and were taken as prisioners. Obi-wan, Commander Cody, and the other clone are still in the prison block while it looks like Naruto was taken to one of the interrogation rooms. We want to get in and out as fast as possible so that means splitting up into two teams. Rex and I will go and get Naruto from the interrogation room, the rest of you will proceed to the prison block to get Obi-wan and the surviving clone," Anakin ordered, getting a nod from everyone as R2 downloaded the ship's schematics to each of the clones along with the best rout to get to their objectives.

"You heard him boys, but let's keep a low profile for as long as possible, we don't want the entire ship on alert before we even get to our objectives."

As the group of Republic soldiers, plus two Jedi, entered the monstrous ship, they were all almost instantly spotted by a group of patrolling droids. However luck seemed to be on their side as the droids walked right past them and turned further down the corridor, letting most of the clones let out a breath they didn't even know they were holding. Anakin gave the all clear signal and so the rescue mission officially began, but Anakin couldn't get over the feeling that something horribly wrong was going to happen. For nearly ten minutes they snuck through the massive Separatist ship, careful to avoid droid patrols, before they finally arrived at the point that they would go their separate paths.

"Alright we split up here, keep radio silence until you find your objectives then radio in to confirm that you're heading back to this ship," said Anakin before he and Rex split off from the main group and headed towards the interrogation rooms.

Traveling down the long corridors was almost psychologically torturing, the walls themselves seem to make you feel small and Rex found himself clenching his teeth in an attempt to keep himself focused. Even Anakin had to admit that this place was giving him the creeps, it was almost as if he was walking through a lifeless husk and the constant sound of moving machinery wasn't help to calm his racing heart.

Meanwhile, Dooku watched as one of his torture droids continued to electrocute Naruto with a shock staff, making the young padawan cry out in pain with every touch. For the last twenty minutes Dooku had Naruto electrocuted while he was slowly breaking down the folds of the force that Naruto had submerged himself in. Another ten minutes of this and the boy's mind would break, which would then allow Dooku to deliver another devastating blow to the moral of Obi-wan Kenobi. It was only when Dooku unleashed his own blast of force lightning, to hopefully speed up the process, that Naruto's eyes snapped open to reveal a pair of glowing red orbs.

"What?" Dooku questioned before he suddenly found himself no longer on solid ground.

From Anakin and Rex's point of view they had been just seconds from entering the interrogation room when the thick metal door suddenly exploded out into the hallway and Dooku lay unconscious up against it. It had also been at that moment that Anakin felt a familiar ripple in the force and the culprit behind it was once again Naruto Uzumaki. Inside the interrogation room, Naruto lay on the broken stasis field generator that had been keeping him suspended in the air and the torture troid had been literally vaporized into nothing more than dust. Naruto slowly sat up into a kneeling position and looked around with lidded eyes, which focused the moment he saw Anakin and Rex approaching him.

"Master Skywalker, you came for us," Naruto said as the elder Jedi helped him off of the broken machine and stand on his own two feet.

"Thanks to you kid, Ahsoka got your S.O.S and a few soldiers volunteered for a rescue mission. I know you aren't feeling well but we don't have time for you to catch your breath, can you keep up or does Rex need to carry you?" it wasn't a demeaning question but one that needed an honest answer.

"I can move, but Dooku took our lightsabers."

"Oh I don't think it will be a problem getting them back," Rex commented as he walked over to the fallen Sith Lord and took the two lightsabers from the folds of his robes.

"We don't have time to deal with Dooku, no matter how much I may want to," just as Anakin spoke those words, several squads droids rounded the corner and instantly opened fire upon them, dashing any minute hope of ending Dooku once and for all.

"Master Kenobi, Commander Cody, and Hammer are still in the prison block, we have to get to them!" Naruto stated as his curved hilt lightsaber sprang to life and his Soresu training with Obi-wan kicked in like it was second nature.

"Ahsoka and twenty other troopers are getting them, our goal now is to get back to the ship and defend it until they make it back. Rex give these machines something to keep the distracted," said Anakin as Rex pulled out a thermal detonator and tossed it right into the droid ranks.

The resulting explosion provided enough cover for the two Jedi and cole Captain to escape back into the hallways of the ship and begin the long run back to the ship. Anakin had to admit that he was surprised at how calm Naruto was acting, given that the last major fight he was in made Naruto almost lose himself in his own fear. It actually bothered Anakin that Naruto wasn't showing any emotion at all, almost as if he didn't have any to begin with. They could deal with that situation later, all three of the heard blaster fire coming from where the _Twilight_ was docked at that didn't spell good news in any sense of the word. Once they rounded the hallway, Rex instantly leveled his rifle with the nearest droid and pulled the trigger before expertly switching targets while every droid was still focused on the main group that had hunkered down near the hatch.

While Rex took the droids out from down the hallway, Naruto and Anakin began to slice their way through any droid that got in their way, with Naruto cutting down the last one just a split second before Anakin could. As Naruto took a moment to regain his breath, not to mention think about why he was still so calm at the moment, the young padawan was nearly knocked to the ground by Master Skywalker's very own padawan.

"You're alive, I knew you were still alive!" Ahsoka shouted in joy before Naruto pulled her to the ground just in time to duck under a rocked that some droids fired at them.

"Perhaps we should leave before our happy reunion?" asked Obi-wan as Anakin handed his former master his lightsaber.

"Sir, we've got more droid incoming and they brought bigger guns!" shouted a clone, who was guarding one of their flanks, just before a hail of red lasers descended upon the Republic forces, making them all dive for cover once more.

"We can't get out of here until this ship drops out of hyperspace, if we try and detach then our ship will be ripped to pieces," said Anakin while he deflected enemy fire back at the droids, dropping one every now and then by blasting of their heads.

"If I can get to the engines then I think I can manually drop us out of hyperspace, but there's no way I'll make it there on my own!" Hammer shouted as he peaked out of cover and shot at the droids with one of their own weapons.

"I can get him there," said Ahsoka.

"Not alone, I'll go with you as well," Naruto said while Anakin and Obi-wan nodded in agreement, they would have to trust their two padawans to get the massive ship out of hyperspace.

"May the force be with you both."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: The Escape Part 2**

" _As Jedi Initiates, you are young and have not yet experienced the temptations of the dark side. But take heed, for nothing else has the same potential to ruin your good works and good name._

 _\- Sabla-Mandibu, Jedi Seer_

* * *

Naruto, Ahsoka, and Hammer didn't realize just how big the _Malevolence_ was until they found themselves running through it with several battle droids hot on their heels. They ran forward in a Column formation with Ahsoka leading to cut down droids as they approached, Hammer in the middle to provide covering fire when needed, and Naruto in the back deflecting the blaster bolts as they ran forward. Their hearts seemed to beat in sync with their boots hitting the metal floor that they ran across, they had a single shared goal and that was to drop the massive dreadnought out of hyperspace so that they could escape. Yet, as they ran, Naruto could feel himself being slowly released from the confines of the force that he had put himself in to keep from breaking under Dooku's torture.

"If this ship has any sort of reasonable design to it then we should be reaching the Engineering area any second now. I'm not all that familiar with Seppy engines so it might take me a few minutes to get the hang of it!" Hammer shouted as he managed to shoot a droid right in its head as they ran past it.

"Got it, Naruto keep those droids off our backs!" Ahsoka shouted back at her oldest friend, who was using his remaining immersion in the force to rip the panels off the walls and use them as a makeshift shield while he threw the others at the droids with enough force to cut some of them right in half.

The corridors seem to go on forever, no matter how far they ran it seemed as if they weren't getting anywhere, and droid continued to pour out from other corridors. Just as they rounded another corner and saw the engineering room, or at least the door that led to the larger compartment, Naruto's submersion in the force abruptly ended and every emotional pain he had been blocking out came rushing back. Naruto suddenly felt his entire body go numb, it was like he was watching his own body simply drop to the floor as red blaster bolts sailed through the metallic air of the ship.

That's when Naruto saw those red blaster bolts hit Hammer in the back, seeming to kill him instantly, while another volley struck Ahsoka the moment she turned around to see what had happened. Naruto blinked and suddenly he was still falling, Ahsoka and Hammer were still running, and the fear that had crippled Naruto in the past now fueled him like nothing he had ever felt before. The fear of seeing two more people die, the fear of dying himself, made Naruto's body surge forward with a determination that he had never experienced before.

Naruto's azure lightsaber zipped through the air so fast that it seemed to leave solid streaks of blue light everywhere it moved and no droid blaster bolts made it through Naruto's guard. His eyes weren't glowing red, not like in the past, but he was practically glowing in the force.

"Naruto," Ahsoka whispered as she glanced back at her best friend, almost not believing that this was the same person who she had protected when they went to save Jabba the Hutt's son.

"We've made it, quick seal the doors behind us!" Hammer ordered just as they entered a control state overlooking at least half a mile's worth of nothing but engines and a massive hyperspace generator stationed among them.

The moment the doors sealed, Naruto and Ahsoka took their lightsabers and fused the two doors together right down the center, stopping anyone from getting in or getting out. Ahsoka actually let out a sigh of relief, wiping some sweat off of her forehead, before deactivating her lightsaber. Naruto, on the other hand, looked down to find his hands were shaking uncontrollably, the adrenaline in his system made Naruto hyper alert to everything going on around him.

"These doors won't hold them for long, Ahsoka and I will see if there are any other ways out of here without having to go through half an army of droid," Naruto said as he and Ahsoka walked down to the lower platform to find any more ways out of the engine bay.

"Naruto are you alright?" asked Ahsoka, her brow furrowing in worry.

"When I realized that Dooku was going to torture us to get information I submerged myself within the folds of the force. By doing so I protected my mind from the physical and emotional pain my body was feeling, but back there I couldn't keep myself submerged any longer. I saw both you and Hammer being killed because I faltered and the fear of losing even more people because of this ship made me move forward with a strength I never knew that I had," Naruto admitted, rubbing his eyes as if they bothered him, while letting out a frustrated sigh.

"Don't worry, nothing bad is going to happen, let's just get off this ship so we can go back to the Jedi Temple and rest, I think you deserve at least that much," said Ahsoka while she placed a comforting hand on Naruto's shoulder just before the entire ship lurched forward and the humming hyperspace engine suddenly went dead.

"Ha, take that you stupid droid, you can't outsmart this clone!" Hammer cheered in victory before the doors at the other end of the bay opened and in walked several squads of Super Battle Droids, each one aiming their rocket arm up at where Hammer was.

"Hammer, get out of there!" Naruto shouted but it was too late.

"Oh crap!" Hammer cried as he dove to the floor just as twelve rockets soared right over his head and hit the door that had been sealed, blowing it wide open.

"Naruto we need to go!" said Ahsoka as she desperately blocked to blaster bolts now being fired at them but Naruto just stood there staring at the now flaming control room, not wanting to believe that Hammer had just died after everything they had been through so far.

"Common you stupid clankers, is that the best you can do?!" a familiar voice shouted just as Hammer came flying through the inferno, using a piece of metal for a makeshift shield while his other hand held the blaster he was currently using to provide Naruto and Ahsoka with covering fire.

Naruto couldn't believe it, Hammer had survived twelve rockets being fired at him all at once and was still fighting! Although, upon closer inspection, Naruto noticed that half of Hammer's face had been burned rather badly and he only had one eye open at the moment. Igniting his lightsaber once more, Naruto ran over to the injured clone and began blocking the blaster bolts so that Hammer could focus on getting over to Ahsoka, who was currently guarding their last remaining exit out of the engine bay.

"Common, common!" Ahsoka yelled as the droids began closing in, like a swarm of locust ready to feast upon anything in their path, but the force was with the Republic this day because they managed to make it back into the corridors with the doors sealed shut behind them.

"Can you keep moving," Naruto asked the clone engineer, who groaned in pain as the feeling of his burnt flesh finally slipped past the adrenaline shield that had kept him going even after half of his face had nearly been burned off.

"I-I think so, my face feels like it's still on fire and I can only see out of one eye, but I'll be damned if I die on an enemy ship just minutes from our escape. Now lets get moving before even more droids decide they want to play "Shoot the Clone With Rockets"," said Hammer as he checked his blaster before the three of them, once more, began running down the hallway back towards where the _Twilight_ was docked.

* * *

While Ahsoka, Naruto, and Hammer were busy with their mission to drop the Separatist dreadnought out of hyperspace, the remaining Republic forces did the best they could to hold back the ever advancing droid forces. Using the force, Anakin and Obi-wan had ripped the paneling off the very walls to form barricades and make choke points where the droids had no choice but to cluster together. Nine clones were assigned to one of the two barricades, to cover both ends of the corridor, while two other clones were ordered to run ammunition from the _Twilight_ to their fighting brothers.

"Sir, we can't hold them back forever, more droids are advancing on our position and the choke points have been destroyed from our last batch of thermal detonators!" Cody shouted as he peaked out of cover, his eyes narrowing at the advancing cannon fodder droids, before he pulled the trigger on his weapon.

"We can't go anywhere while we're still in hyperspace, I just hope Naruto, Ahsoka, and Hammer made it to the engine room safely," said Obi-wan before he jumped out from behind cover and began cutting down droid after droid with such skill that no one other than a Jedi master would be capable of.

The battle was a true symbol of a pure slug match, with the clone troopers giving the fight everything they've got and the cold unfeeling droids marching forward like the lifeless killing machines that they were designed to be. No matter how many droids were destroyed, it seemed like another one took its place in a matter of seconds, and the jaws of death were slowly closing with each step the mechanical warriors took. Each and every clone there was ready to give their lives in the serves of the Republic, in a war that most of them didn't understand and weren't given a choice but to fight in, but they were willing to make the sacrifice. Even as explosions made their ears ring, to the point that they could barely hear, they continued to fight with a courage that no words could describe.

"Hit the deck!" a trooper shouted as a rocket came flying at them with such speed that the Republic forces barely had time to duck before it sailed over their heads.

Anakin had to resist the urge to laugh when that same rocket collided with the droid advancing from the other end of the hallway. It seems these droid weren't programmed to avoid friendly fire, mostly because they were being replaced daily, but it was always nice to see droids destroying one another with their own weapons. Sadly the need to duck under the rocket allowed the advancing droids to finally break through Anakin's barricade. A valiant clone trooper, one who had survived since the battle of Geonosis, tackled one of the droids to the ground but was gunned down second later by the other droids marching forward.

With renewed ferocity, Anakin jumped up from the ground and practically flew at the droids that had breached their barricade and killed one of his men. In a blur Skywalker's lightsaber cut down the droid that killed his soldier before his free hand lashed out, with the power of the force responding to his will, and the resulting force push sent the other droids to the ground. In the blink of an eye the crowded hallway was suddenly empty and became a shooting gallery for the angry clones that had just lost another one of their brothers. One of the clones, that had been running ammo from the ship to the men, had took his brother's place on the barricade and joined his fellow clones in defending their only way out of this hell.

"Rex, we need to block one of these hallways so that the droids can only come at us from one direction! We're just going to get overrun if we keep fighting them on two sides!" Anakin ordered his Captain.

"Yes Sir!" Rex shouted back, having to raise his voice so that Skywalker could hear him over the slug match that had renewed with much vigour.

There was a moment, from Anakin's point of view, where time seemed to slow down to the point that it might as well have stopped. He could see the small battlefield laid out before him like a destructive painting depicting the acts of an ancient war. The red blaster bolts stained the space above them while blue bolts made the outside of Anakin's vision turn azure. It was a strangely beautiful sight of life versus machine, of the Light side of the force versus the Dark side. Then the noise of battle returned and Anakin was shocked back to reality by his communicator beeping while giving off a green flash every few second. It was Ahsoka!

"Ahsoka, please tell me you guys got the hyperdrive offline!" Anakin shouted into his comlink.

" _We did but Hammer got caught in an explosion and is hurt really bad, we're coming down the corridor that we left at and we could really use a clear path._ "

"You got it Snips. Obi-wan, their almost back and we need your side clear of droid!" Anakin yelled to his old master.

"Well it's about time. Cody, focus fire on the droids on the outside, I'll deal with the droids in the middle," Obi-wan ordered his Commander.

"On it sir, alright men you heard the General, let's show these droid what we clones are made of!" Cody roared as Obi-wan dove back into the fray, trusting the troops to watch their aim, and began carving his way through droid after droid until he reached the end of the hallway.

"Master!" Obi-wan could happily say that he couldn't be more relieved to see both his and Anakin's padawans running down the hallway while helping a barely walking Hammer keep up with them.

"You two have no idea how glad we are to see you. Come, we need to get out of here before something else happens," said Obi-wan as the clones left their cover and formed a protective guard around the three Jedi and their injured brother, keeping their weapons trained on the only way more enemy droids could come at them from that side of the hallway.

"Alright I want the injured on the ship first, Ahsoka prep the ship to fly the moment we're all on board! Let's move people!" Anakin ordered.

One by one they each got onto the shuttle, the droids advancing once more in an attempt to kill as many of the Republic forces as possible. Anakin was the last one on board but, once he was, the _Twilight_ detached itself from the Separatist ship and it's thrusters flared to life before they suddenly shot off into the depths of space.

"We need to keep under the ship for as long as possible or it's EMP weapon will leave us dead in the water," Obi-wan advised his former apprentice, who had taken over flying the ship while Ahsoka got the hyperdrive ready and the coordinates set in the navigational computer.

The stars around them stretched into thin lines of light and the _Twilight_ shot off into hyperspace in a flash.

"We made it, we finally made it."

* * *

(One week later: Main Jedi Temple)

It had been one week since the events of the _Malevolence_ and, as expected, those that took part in the operation were given leave. The Jedi Council was quite relieved to have one of their members back and the information their acquired from facing the _Malevolence_ which would give them an edge that they didn't have before. Then came the topic of Naruto and what had happened to him while in the company of Count Dooku.. In fact the only way they actually knew what happened was because R2-D2 had downloaded every security feed that had been operational at the time, including the one in Dooku's interrogation room.

"How far Dooku has fallen, shameful it is," Yoda whispered to himself as the hologram of the interrogation session died and the windows to the council room slowly opened to let the light back in.

"Yet it seems the impossible happens quite a lot around Padawan Uzumaki. First he learns how to achieve battle meditation, a skill that only Jedi Masters are known to possess, and now he is able to cause such destruction while in a heightened emotional state. I am concerned about the damage he could cause if he were ever tempted by the dark side of the force," admitted Jedi Master Saesee Tiin, a notable warrior among both the Jedi and the Republic forces.

"Given the things he has been forced to endure as of late, I believe it would be even stranger if he didn't show signs of distress. He is still young and his last two missions have shown him a rather ugly side of war, not to mention the he was being tortured by Count Dooku for several minutes before finally lashing out. I'm not saying that we should allow such things to proceed unmonitored but fearing a fall to the dark side is rather drastic at this stage," Mace Windu responded as he leaned forward in his chair.

"Where is Padawan Uzumaki at the moment?" Master Oppo Rancisis inquired, turning to look at Obi-wan.

"I believe Ahsoka has taken Naruto off to the training grounds to get him out of his room. The bond they share is oddly strong and I believe he responds more positively to her presence than anyone else's," answered Obi-wan.

"Then we should watch them both very closely, such bonds have been known to lead to dangerous outcomes."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

" _As Jedi initiates, you will learn and hone many abilities that draw upon the force. These abilities follow three themes: Control, Sense, and Alter._

 _\- Sabla-Mandibu, Jedi Seer_

* * *

Three months, that's how long the Jedi healers had deemed it necessary for Naruto to remain under their watchful eyes after the events of his capture and torture at the hands of Count Dooku. For two months Naruto remained in the confines of the Jedi Temple, being visited often by Obi-wan to resume his philosophical training when the Jedi Master wasn't on the front lines commanding his troops. The reason Obi-wan deemed in necessary to only to philosophical training, instead of physical, was because he felt Naruto needed time away from any kind of physical violence. Obi-wan knew that his Padawan was balancing on the edge of a very small knife and that he would be put in great danger, both physically and mentally, if he was exposed to the horrors of war before he was ready.

However, Obi-wan wasn't the only person to take a break from the war effort to come and see how Naruto was doing. Ahsoka had received permission from Anakin, on several occasions, to come back to the Jedi Temple and check up on her oldest friend. What neither Padawans realized was that some of the Jedi Sentinels, often recognized by their double bladed lightsabers and masks, were instructed to watch them both closely to see if a relationship was forming that violated the Jedi code. Speaking of which, two Sentinels were currently watching the two Padawans walk around the archives together, talking about the separate things that the archives contained. Well Naruto was telling Ahsoka what he had read in his spare time while Ahsoka tried to seem interested in the benefits of deep meditation and how it helped in healing the body and mind by using the force.

"So, by entering a state of unconscious meditation while in a fight, one could possibly have the same connection they would have to the force while meditating but not be as vulnerable by the immobility of actual meditation," Naruto explained what he had discovered to Ahsoka, who looked like she had been trying to stay awake through the entire thirty minute explanation.

"Naruto, not that I don't appreciate the interesting things you've learned while being cooped up here but I haven't heard a topic so boring since Master Yoda talked to our clans about the effect of the cosmic force on a blade of grass," Ahsoka admitted, making Naruto just let out a nervous chuckle while scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Yea, I suppose I did get a little carried away there, sorry," Naruto apologized halfheartedly.

"Well anyway, the healers said you are free from the confines of the temple today, so what do you say we go and do something fun?" asked Ahsoka in a way that made Naruto feel like they would get in a lot of trouble if they were caught, or maybe that was just past experience talking again.

"What kind of fun?" Naruto was already regretting asking that question, thought the feeling only intensified when Ahsoka gave him a grin that almost literally went from ear to ear.

"OK so Skyguy's leaving the temple today to go somewhere in the upper districts, but the thing that's strange is that this isn't the first time he's done so whenever we're at the temple. He says that he's investigating possible traitors but he hasn't reported anything to the council. I'm thinking we could follow him to see what he's really up to," Ahsoka suggested, her grin still present on her face.

"Are you crazy, we're still Padawans and I've just got done being watched by the Jedi healers for signs of emotional or mental trauma. If I just go wandering off then who knows what they could think I'm doing," if there was one thing Naruto didn't want to do it would be being constantly under suspicion by the Jedi Masters because Ahsoka wanted to figure out what her own master was up to.

"Sorry, I just know how boring it is to hang around here all day and figured you could use a bit of an adventure," Ahsoka admitted, now feeling rather crappy for not thinking about how her planned adventure could cast a bad light on Naruto, especially since he was being watched for anything negative.

"I'm probably going to regret this, but how about we go down to the courtyard and have a duel together, like when we were still younglings," say what you want but Naruto could never stand to see Ahsoka with such a disappointed look on her face, a trait that had almost gotten him into a lot of trouble in the past.

"You want to actually spar with me, without a Master forcing you to fight?" Ahsoka asked in almost pure disbelief, she had never known her friend to willingly do any sort of fighting unless their lives were on the line.

"You're right, I think I've changed my mind," Naruto said in a lighthearted way before he began walking out of the archives.

"Hey, I was only kidding! Wait up!"

Soon afterwards, Naruto found himself back alongside his Master as they descended onto a frozen planet that had once held a Clone Outpost, but it had gone completely silent less than a week ago. The planet they were on was a snow-covered wasteland where almost nothing could survive and the name of this icy deathtrap was Orto Plutonia. Naruto and Obi-wan were also joined by Anakin Skywalker, who had decided to leave Ahsoka behind after a rather nasty fight just a few weeks ago. They were also accompanied by dignitaries from the planet's moon, named Pantora, who all three Jedi felt weren't needed for such a mission, especially since one of them was no older than Naruto himself.

Soon enough the four gunships came to a slow stop in front of the silent outpost, the right side hatches opening to allow the Jedi, dignitaries, and clone troopers to step out into the frigid wasteland. Naruto himself pulled his dark brown cloak closer to his body, trying to preserve as much body heat as possible, while also pulling a pair of goggles over his eyes. Of all the places in the galaxy, Naruto wondered why this had to be the first one he went to after spending three months locked up in the Jedi Temple.

"And this is the planet's tropical zone," Obi-wan commented, clearly not liking the planet any more than Naruto did, as he and Anakin began walking towards the main entrance.

"It's not Tatooine, that's for sure. Captain Rex, have your men survey the area. Place as many sensor beacons as you can before it gets dark," Anakin said to his second in command, who immediately went to given his troops their orders.

Meanwhile, the three Jedi were standing beside one another, well Naruto was actually standing slightly behind Obi-wan while Anakin just stood next to their shared Master. Something felt wrong to the three of them, they couldn't quite place what it was but there was definitely something very wrong with this place.

"General Kenobi!" one of the dignitaries, a man called Chairman Cho if Naruto remembered correctly, called out to the Jedi.

"Chairman Cho, Senator Chuchi. I suggest you wait here until we can secure the area," Obi-wan suggested, not wanting anything that could go wrong to go wrong, but this chairman simply held his head high and had an aura of arrogance around him that Naruto found hard to tolerate.

"I respect your judgment, General Kenobi, but I will go where I choose. This is sovereign Pantora territory," Chairman Cho declared, wanting to assert his dominance in the moment, but Anakin decided to voice how strange it was that he would care so much about an empty planet.

"I thought this planet was uninhabited, and therefore, it's not aligned," said Anakin and Cho somehow took offense to that statement, if the way his eye slightly twitched was anything to go by.

"Our moon of Pantora is the only civilization in the system. I'm the one who asked the Senate to protect this planet. This wasteland belongs to us!" the blue skinned man practically shouted, hostility clear in his every movement but the three Jedi weren't intimidated, in fact Obi-wan was a little annoyed at the man.

"With all do respect, Chairman, this is for the Senate to decide, not us."

"Ah, but the Jedi report to the Senate, which is Senator Chuchi of Pantora."

"Technically speaking, Master Jedi, the Chairman is correct. Since the planet is uninhabited, the moon of Pantora reserves the right to continue as its protectorate," said Senator Chuchi, who walked past Cho so the Jedi could now address her directly.

"She does have a point Master, as long as there are no other lifeforms living on this planet then they can continue to claim it as their land," Naruto told Obi-wan, who nodded before turning to Anakin.

"Anakin, stay here with the Senator and the droids while we secure the base," said Obi-wan before he and Naruto approached the massive blast doors, which some Clone engineers managed to get working and were now opening.

When the massive doors opened, Naruto froze at the sight of several dead clones with their helmets mounted on several spears that stood as a warning to anyone who discovered this place. Naruto felt a chill crawl up his spine at the sight of so many dead clones, most of whom looked to have been killed by crude and ancient weapons, which made no sense because nothing was supposed to be able to survive on this planet.

"I don't get it," said Rex

"It must be Separatists," Chairman Cho cut in, clearly not listening to Obi-wan's advice when he said it would be safer to wait until they secured the base.

"I'm not so sure, Chairman. These weapons look handmade and there's no sign of a droids that would have been killed in combat," said Naruto, watching as the Chairman narrowed his eyes ever so slightly at the young Padawan.

It didn't take them long to gain access to the elevator and to get up to the primary observation deck, which was also littered with the bodies of dead clone soldiers. Once inside, Naruto had to hold his hand over his nose in a vain attempt to block out the smell, which was almost strong enough to make him dizzy. Shaking his head ever so slightly, the young Padawan moved around the dead bodies as if he was searching for something important, something that would explain what killed these men. Yet he found nothing, nothing to help explain who or what had attacked these clones in such a brutal manner.

"Do you think the Separatists could be building a base from which to attack Pantora?" asked the chairman while Obi-wan moved to the lower section of the observation deck while Naruto moved over to the computers so as the check the database for any clues.

"I don't think we're dealing with Separatists to begin with. Notice the lack of any destroyed droids and no blaster scorches on the walls or computers. Whatever attacked our men did so with spears and were far more aggressive than any droid the Separatists are currently using," Obi-wan stated as he looked out through the windows at the blizzard raging just on the other side of the glass.

"Sir, our scouts have reported a droid base on the other side of the ice ridge," Rex reported.

"Thank you Captain, perhaps we can find some more answers there."

It wasn't long before Obi-wan and Anakin left the Republic base, leaving Naruto behind to guard the Chairman and Senator just in case the creatures that attacked earlier came back for even more clone blood. Needless to say, the moment the two Jedi Masters left was the moment Cho took complete command and ordered the weapon systems brought back online and the shields operational, still claiming that the CIS was the ones behind everything and that they were planning something. The thing that bothered Naruto the most was how the man seemed so hell bent on blaming the droid forces for this attack when all the evidence pointed to something else entirely. Then there was Senator Chuchi, a girl slightly older than Naruto and yet already put in charge of representing her planet in the Galactic Senate. Not to mention she was actually rather cute in the Padawan's opinion.

"Chairman, what makes you so certain the Separatists are behind this attack," Chuchi asked, although her voice was submissive; almost as if she was afraid the Chairman would have her killed for so much as talking to him.

"Look around Senator," Cho stated with a sneer, "Isn't this carnage proof enough?"

"Yet there are no dead droids here and no blast marks; plus the trooper's injuries aren't consistent with that of being attacked by droids," Naruto cut in, drawing the attention away from Chuchi when he saw the man about to snap at her.

"So, a child like you is an expert on war? I wasn't aware the Jedi were so keen on teaching children such thing," Naruto knew Cho was baiting him; the man was overly obvious about it.

"No, the Jedi teach how to keep a clear head and look at all the evidence presented to them before coming to a conclusion. For instance, why are you so convinced that these men were killed by droids when all the evidence points to the contrary? I could understand the droid forces dragging away their own casualties to throw off suspicion, but then why would the use primitive spears and clone helmets as a warning? Could it be that you are hiding something?" asked Naruto as he felt the chairman's rage slowly build inside until he finally exploded.

"How dare you! I am the Chairman of Pantora and I will not allow some youngling to question me when he knows nothing of war or what lengths and enemy will go to in order to achieve victory! Once we are finished here, I will see to it myself that you are sent to the farthest outpost in known space!" Cho finally snapped, storming around the command console until he was towering over Naruto with his gloved finger pointing at him menacingly.

A few months ago and Naruto would have looked to the ground in shame for what he had done, but that was before he had been tortured by a Sith and made to fight in a war that he found no purpose in even existing. No Naruto just stared up at the Pantora native with a blank look on his face, showing no signs of backing down no matter what Cho might threaten to do to him.

"Keep in mind that I do not report to you, Chairman Cho, but Senator Chuchi and we are here to find out what actually happened to this outpost. If you continue to impede this investigation with your wild accusations then I will be forced to have these men escort you back to your moon where you will await the conclusion of this investigation and be provided with a full report of everything that has happened here," Naruto said, staring Cho down with an unblinking gaze the likes of which he had never seen before, but it got his point across.

"Please, there is no reason for us to fight among ourselves," said Chuchi as she got in-between Naruto and Cho, to which Cho stormed off and Naruto gave the Senator an apologetic bow.

"Forgive me Senator, it was not my intention to cause internal strife within our group," Naruto apologized honestly, which was more than Chuchi was expecting.

"I feel that it is I who must apologize; the Chairman is acting strangely out of character. He isn't normally a compassionate man, but even so he still knows to show respect and honor where it is needed."

"What do you think about this whole situation, do you believe it was the CIS forces that killed our men?" Naruto asked while the Senator glanced at the floor with a bit of uncertainty in her eyes, but she gave an answer none the less.

"No, this does not seem to be the work of droids, but I am not as experienced in war as Chairman Cho," Chuchi admitted, getting a nod of agreement from Naruto.

"I'm in the same boat; although my past experiences in combat have been less than enjoyable."

"Perhaps we shall find the truth of the matter together."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 6: Path to War**

" _Patients you must have my young Padawan"_

 _\- Yoda_

* * *

Hours passed before Obi-wan and Anakin returned from checking out the supposed Separatist outpost, with hardly any communication due to the raging blizzard that seemed to consume the entire planet. Naruto spent the majority of this time avoiding Chairman Cho by meditating down in the hangar bay, burying his mind deep within the folds of the force until he felt as one with it, but unfortunately that small moment of peace ended when his master did return.

"I'm glad you made it back General, it's getting pretty bad out there," Rex commented as he approached Anakin, followed closely by Naruto who approached Obi-wan.

"Find anything interesting, Master?" Naruto inquired.

"Oh you have no idea, but perhaps we should discuss this with Chairman Cho as well. Tell me, how has he been since we left?"

"Well he doesn't like it when people disagree with him and his arrogance seems to match his high level of rank. I also think he's purposefully trying to hide something from us, something that he doesn't want anyone to know about," Naruto replied honestly while both he and Obi-wan unconsciously adopted the same thinking pose.

"General Kenobi, what did you find?" speak of the devil and he shall appear.

"Chairman Cho, it appears that we've stumbled onto an inhabited planet," it didn't even take two seconds for a sneer to come across Cho's face.

"Impossible, our explorers have spent much time on this planet over the long history of Pantora, no one lives here. They must be trespassers!" even as Cho spat his words, Naruto could feel a nagging sensation in the back of his head that the blue skinned man wasn't telling the complete truth.

"With respect, the Talz aren't nearly advanced enough to master space travel. In fact they still use spears and clubbed weapons. In fact, I believe they may have been here longer than your people," Obi-wan words seemed to finally snap something with Cho; the Chairman of Pantora now had a very dangerous look in his eye.

"Who ever these creatures are, they belong to us! This whole system belongs to us!"

"Your majesty, if there are lifeforms here, then the Senate must decide jurisdiction," Chuchi tried to reason, no matter how futile it may be, but instead Cho rounded on her and leveled an all to threatening glare before saying words that really seemed to strike a chord in Naruto's heart.

"They are savages, look at what they did to your soldiers."

"They only want to be left alone," Obi-wan began, "The droids attacked them and I'm afraid our outpost simply got caught in the middle."

"They must be either subdued or put down like the animals they are," those words were the final nail in the coffin for Naruto; he wouldn't stand for such things to be said about sentient life.

"We promised their chief there would be no retaliation," Anakin voiced, before Naruto could speak, and Obi-wan was quick to follow up before the Chairman could speak again.

"We've arranged a meeting between their high council and both you and the senator, they truly do wish for peace."

"Not to mention that if we send troopers then they will more than likely believe Master Obi-wan lied to them. Also, isn't it better to solve our problems with words instead of risking the lives of our men?" Naruto said with a much calmer tone than he would have liked, but his Jedi training was serving him well in keeping his emotions hidden on the inside.

"As I said, these creatures are little more than animals, you can't lie to an animal! They can't be trusted."

Little did the Chairman realize that it was at that moment Naruto's control slipped and he began to unconsciously reach out with the Force, making the metal flooring beneath their feet give off a stressed groaning sounds from all the pressure slowly being forced onto it. Naruto's eyes shifted from a bright blue into a deep crimson, also the sound of creaking metal increase the longer he stood before eventually the ground itself began to was only Obi-Wan that realize just who was causing the ground suddenly shake like an earthquake, if the worried expression on his face was anything to go by. Obi-Wan acted quickly by placing a comforting hand on his Padawan's shoulder, but that did little to stop the raging fires within Naruto's heart.

"You sound like a Separatist, thinking that you are above someone just because they are less advanced than you and wish to impose your will upon them. What right do you have to judge these creatures as inferior, what right do you have to sentenced them to death just because they're on a planet you supposedly control?" Naruto asked before leveling his gaze with Chairman Cho, making the blue skinned man show a side of fear that he never revealed before.

"Naruto you need to calm down, remember your training, it is not the Jedi way to threaten others," Obi-Wan said as Naruto suddenly snapped out of whatever it was causing him to act in such a way, but he still did not stop glaring at the chairman.

"Enough of this, Capt. Rex prepare your men for combat we leave in thirty minutes," was all Cho had to say before he swiftly turned and walked away, not wanting the child that had threatened him to see the fear he invoked in him.

As Rex moved to prepare his soldiers for combat, Obi-Wan pulled Naruto off to the side where they could have their own private conversation without being disturbed. It was also no secret that, by this point, Obi-Wan was concerned with Naruto's mental health once more. For a usually calm and somewhat timid young boy to show this much anger was most worrying and Obi-Wan now wasn't sure if he should've brought him along on this mission. Yet, at the same time Obi-Wan wasn't going to risk his apprentice's life as a Jedi just because he was afraid of something that might happen.

Naruto himself and somewhat calmed down since his latest argument with Chairman Cho, but he was by no means, as calm he had been earlier that day. Needless to say, but the sudden burst of anger had drained him somewhat, and the blonde Jedi fell like you just gone a hundred rounds with Ahsoka in the training ring.

"What is troubling you, Naruto?" Obi-Wan asked, as he knelt down to level his gaze with Naruto's.

"I don't know Master Kenobi, because despite all my Jedi training I still feel a great amount of anger towards the chairman. I'm angry that he believes he can simply attack someone because they are less advanced than he is, that his first and only reaction is to go to war, and that he will not listen to reason. How can such a heartless and cruel man have ever attained a place of such power?" Naruto asked as he took a deep breath the trying further calm himself but to no success.

"I know the frustration you're feeling, my apprentice, but you cannot let that control your actions. Remember, there is no motion, there's peace. The Jedi code gives us rules to live by so that we do not fall into darkness and use our powers for evil, but it also gives us a high sense of morality that we expect everyone else to live up to. To be honest with you, I like the chairman little more than you do, but I also know that by lashing out it will only further validate his claim that we are irresponsible with the power that's been gifted to us. So calm yourself, but the Force's will guide you, and go forward with a clear mind," Obi-Wan told Naruto as he placed a hand on each of the younger boy's shoulders and gave him a reassuring smile.

Naruto nodded in understanding, hearing the reason in his master's voice, and felt better knowing that someone else felt the same thing he did. Such is the difficult life of the Jedi, to forever trying control one's emotions for fear of the great power they wield being turned against the people they care about and protects the most. So he would protect the natives of this planet, as any true Jedi would, and would use the chairman's own unreasonable anger against him.

It wasn't long before several spear bikes were flying out of the hangar bay, with four them carrying the representatives from Pantora and the Senate, while the others carried the three Jedi and several Clone Troopers. Luckily the blizzard hit calm down some since Obi-Wan had returned to the base and so is much easier to navigate the hostile environment. It also didn't go unnoticed to

The meeting place was supposed to be the former Separatist base and Chairman Cho wasted so no time in ordering the troops to set up in advance attack positions for when the other negotiation party arrived. He was under the delusional idea that they would attack before the natives could, but his plan was quickly shot down when Obi-Wan pointed out the scouts that had been following them for quite some time. Senator Chuchi herself seem to be most pleased that the chairman's plan of attacking unaware people had been foiled so easily. Yet, despite his plans being set back time and time again, Chairman Cho still thought he'd be able to subjugate these people or destroy them if they would not bend the knee. He was very much mistaken in this regard as the three Jedi pointed out that several of the natives of the planet had been following them for the last few miles, riding on strange blue furred animals that looked almost like lions.

Introductions were made between the natives and Chairman Cho, but it didn't get much further than that before the Chairman finally lost what little restraint he had an approach the large Chieftain. Harshly grabbing the droid known as C-3 PO, Cho prepared to enact the final steps to go to war.

"Listen here droid, you will repeat everything I say exactly as I say it," the chairman growled, only for the senator to grabbed his arm and attempt one final chance of peace.

"Would you like me to represent the people of Pantora in this matter?" Chuchi asked, only for Cho to once again level glare with her.

"Not on your life senator, there will be no diplomacy," the chairman began as he shoved past the senator, "Listen here you savage, you belong to us, this whole planet belongs to us! As the Supreme Chairman you will not command me to leave this planet or do anything else! Now droid, tell him what I just said,"

And oh did C-3 PO translate precisely what the chairman said and you can imagine with the native Talz had to say in return. Not only had Chairman Cho destroyed any chance of peace, but he also declared all-out war that no one there was equipped to fight at this Talz seemed to have already left by the time the Republic forces exited the base, but the chairman wasted no time in ordering Anakin's soldiers to mount up to prepare for an preemptive attack. Captain Rex, looking to his superior officer for clarification on his orders, was instructed to keep the chairman alive at all costs. Meanwhile, Naruto and Obi-Wan were talking with Senator Chuchi about what could possibly done to stop Cho.

"Senator, you know they preemptive strike is illegal, is there any way we can stop the chairman?" Obi-Wan asked, hoping there was some way to stop this before it could escalate any further than it already had, but the senator just shook her head.

"I'm afraid not General Kenobi, the chairman has declared this to be an internal affair," was Chuchi's reply, looking very worried since she'd never been in a situation like this before and did not know what to do.

"What about your own counsel, is there anyway you could convince them to remove the chairman's authority in this matter?" Naruto inquired, once more adopting the same thinking pose as his master while looking at the senator with a raised eyebrow.

"You mean go behind the chairman's back?"

"Senator, you chairman is about to go to war with the people whose only crime was living on the planet. If that doesn't call his actions in the question that I don't know what well," the blonde Jedi stated as he reached out and place a comforting hand on the senator's shoulder, knowing that this was the only peaceful solution to the matter.

Chuchi seem to think it over for a moment before giving her response, "The Speaker of the Assembly, he has the authority to overrule the chairman in matters related to this."

"Very well then, let's get back to base while the storm is still letting up," Anakin said with some enthusiasm in his voice.

* * *

 **Trying out a new speech recognition software for writing my stories, so that I can tell the story instead of t** **ype it. Let me know how it looks. R &R**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: A Battle Ends And A Jedi Kills**

" _Don't be fooled into thinking of the Trial of Skill as a physical challenge. The Council members will judge your performance based on a series of lightsaber tests, but in truth this Trial hinges on a Jedi's ability to maintain self-discipline in the face of distraction._

 _Restelly Quist, Chief Librarian of the Jedi Temple._

* * *

Naruto knew that he couldn't just leave the clones to their fate, despite Obi-wan insisting that he stay with them until they could get the Chairman's authority revoked, but in the end the young Padawan found himself traveling to catch up with the clones. It didn't take him very long to stumble across the Republic forces being pinned down down the native horde that had been sent against them. The Chairman was standing behind his downed speeder, a blaster in hand, while shouting orders for the Clone Troopers to kill the natives no matter the cost. Rex was even slowly walking towards the charging riders, both his signature blasters firing away as fast as he could pull their triggers, while he casually dodged the spears being thrown at him.

"Sir, we got another speeder approaching from the rear!" a clone shouted to his Captain, which caused Rex to dive behind a speeder so he could assess the new situation without getting a spear to the face.

Naruto didn't even wait for the speeder to come to a stop before he jumped out of it's enclosed cockpit and dived over to where Captain Rex was currently hunkered down, his lightsaber igniting mid jump. His training under Obi-wan allowed Naruto to slice apart several spears just moments before they would hit him, although he had to angle his body slightly to the side.

"So kid, do we have a plan on how to get out of here?!" Rex asked as he came out of cover and fired several shots in the hordes direction.

"Master Kenobi and Skywalker are trying to get the government of Pantora to denounce the Chairman so we can hopefully settle this peacefully. We just have to survive until they get here!" Naruto shouted back, sitting down behind cover and instantly entering his battle meditation state, giving the clones a much needed boost.

The resulting increase in skill and precision was quite noticeable once Naruto's battle meditation took hold, with the clones now standing up from cover while they fought, moving from side to side to dodge incoming spears. It was actually quite a sight for the Chairman of Pantora to behold, watching how the presence of a single Jedi could affect how the soldiers of the Republic fought in battle. Rex had even started walking towards the natives of the planet, just like he was a few moments ago, but this time there was no trace of hesitation in his steps. Sadly, no matter how improved they were, the clones were out numbered and the natives were almost on top of them thanks to their mounts. One mounted warrior had managed to get past the barrage of blaster fire and swiftly turned its beast around to attack Naruto, since he was the least protected warrior there and would make an easy target, only for his mount to suddenly stop inches away from the Padawan.

The moment of hesitation ended up causing the warrior native his life when another soldier put a hole through his chest, but still the beast remained frozen in front of Naruto like a stone statue. The clone from before prepared to put the beast down and protect the superior officer, only for said beast to suddenly jump back over the improvised barrier and begin attacking any native that got too close.

"Sir, more contacts incoming!" a soldier shouted to Rex, who had moved back to the rest of his brothers so that he wouldn't be singled out and surrounded out in the open.

"It doesn't matter, these savages die today!" shouted the Chairman, who had somehow managed to remain unharmed for the majority of the battle, while his two bodyguards flanked him with blasters still firing at every enemy that came into sight.

"Chairman, sir, we are outnumbered and outflanked. If we don't leave now then none of us are surviving this!" Rex argued, only for Cho to scoff at his warning.

"We have a superior fighting force and technology; these creatures stand no chance against us. Now prepare for the next wave!" Cho's harsh words instantly caused Naruto's concentration to slip as anger bubbled up in his heart.

"With all do respect sir, but even with Commander Naruto's battle meditation, we will be overrun eventually. Our only option to survive is to get on our remaining speeders and attempt to get back to base," Rex argued, having had enough of the Chairman's lack of proper planning that was going to get all his brothers killed at this rate.

"You will do as you are ordered, Clone," Cho said with a sneer, only for any further talks to be interrupted when another soldier called out that they were being surrounded.

Sure enough they were now completely surrounded on all sides by mounted Talz, each of them ready to end this so called war before it could ever truly begin. The chief of the Talz, one Thi-Sen, was at the head of this mob with a spear in hand. By this point, Naruto abandoned his battle meditation and took out his curved lightsaber; not wanting to kill these people but also not wanting to die himself.

"Well we're too late now; no way we're getting out of this alive," Naruto grumbled to himself, igniting his lightsaber with a simple press of a button.

"Soldiers, prepare to kill these savages!" even now Chairman Cho still believed they would win this fight, just because they had better technology.

A loud roar echoed over the howling blizzard winds, signaling for the entire tribe to descend upon the outnumbered Republic soldiers, and none of the Talz hesitated to spur their beasts forward into battle. Naruto felt fear creep into his heart at that moment, knowing that he was very likely to die within the next several moments, but if it was his time to die then he would not go out quietly. The horde grew closer by the second with no sign of stopping before they swallowed their enemy up in a vortex of death, at least that was five gunships suddenly descended upon the area. Each gunship fired three short bursts from their main guns, hitting the ground right in front of the Talz to make them stop their charge, before coming to a land once everything had calmed down.

None of the people there had been more relieved than they were the moment those gunships showed up, especially one Padawan that now deactivated his lightsaber and attached it back to his belt.

"Naruto, are you alright?" asked Obi-wan as he placed and hand on his Padawan's shoulder and looked the young boy over for any serious injuries that he may have gained, only to give a sigh of relief when he found none.

"I'm fine Master, but many of our soldiers gave their lives today," Naruto said, motioning to the few dead Clones that hadn't survived the first attack of the Talz.

"I'm pleased that you brought reinforcements, General Kenobi. Now we can truly crush these animals," Cho said with a wicked grin on his face, only for Obi-wan to smirk ever so slightly.

"I'm afraid, Chairman Cho, that your government has decried you out of order and has ordered us to make peace with the Talz. Senator Chuchi is now in charge of this operation while you are to remain right here next to myself," Obi-wan informed the Chairman while Chuchi walked past the man without even so much as glancing at him.

"Master Kenobi," Chuchi began as she stared out at Thi-Sen, "I believe it would be best if your Padawan accompany me for these peace talks."

Obi-wan looked down at Naruto, silently asking what his Padawan thought, but the blonde Jedi just nodded his head before moving to the Senator's side, followed by the protocol droid. Cho, on the other hand, was visibly fuming at how his authority had been undermined so easily! How dare these people go behind _his_ back to make peace with a bunch of creatures that were little more than animals!

"Impossible," Cho growled while clenching his fist around his personal blaster, "Peace with animals."

By this point, Naruto and Chuchi were steadily walking towards Thi-Sen while the Talz leader dismounted his beast and also walked towards them. Chuchi picked up one of the spears and removed the tunic she kept around her shoulders, to show the Talz that she would offer a piece of her own safety to ensure peace. Both sides finally came to a stop not five feet away from one another, ensuring that any attack would put both sides in danger.

"Droid, translate for me," Chuchi order, to which the droid responded in acknowledgement.

"To die for one's people is a great sacrifice. To live for one's people, an even greater sacrifice. I choose to end this war and live for my people, what do you choose?" not a very good speech, since it was made up on the spot, but Naruto had to give the Senator points for how heartfelt it was.

For a moment it looked like Thi-Sen was about to attack, if his raising of his weapon was anything to go by, but he simply stabbed it into the ground. Chuchi knew what this meant and followed his example before tying the two spears together with her tunic. It was a symbol of unity and peace between the people of Pantora and the Talz; a peace the Senator Chuchi hoped would last until the end of the galaxy itself, but the hands of chaos would try one more time to make war! A cry of outrage was heard from Chairman Cho as the man aimed his blaster at both Chuchi and Thi-Sen, firing two quick shots before anyone could reach. Yet it was the will of one Naruto Uzumaki that stopped chaos by reactivating his lightsaber and deflecting both shots right back at Cho without realizing he had done it.

Naruto's eyes widened when he realized just what he had done, but the damage was done and the former Chairman of Pantora lay dead in the snow with two holes through his chest. The Padawan looked down at his now shaking hands, that held the weapon of a Jedi, while reminding himself that if he had not acted then all of this would have been for nothing. It was at this moment that Padawan Naruto Uzumaki's life would change forever; when he learned that sometimes taking a life meant that others could be saved from death.

(One Week Later: The Jedi Temple)

It didn't quite surprise Naruto to learn he would be called before the main Jedi council, especially after they learned his role in the death of Chairman Cho and his borderline insubordinate actions during said mission. Not to mention that Obi-wan no doubt informed them on his emotional slip and resulting use of the force to try and shake apart an entire facility. They would no doubt watch him more closely, which means Naruto needs to be on his best behavior from now on.

"Again," Obi-wan's voice drew Naruto out of his thoughts and back to the training he was currently undergoing.

Seven remote droids floated around Naruto, who had his lightsaber activated while standing in a familiar Soresu stance. Obi-wan stood off to the side, his hand lazily stroking his beard, as he activated the pre-programed simulation what would test his Padawan's skill in the third Lightsaber form. It should also be noted that three of the four times Naruto has been tested, he has deflected every shot sent his way with a surprising amount of accuracy, a similar skill he had shown when learning the second form as well.

"Again."

Naruto continued to go through this same practice until Obi-wan could blindfold his Padawan and still get the same results, not that it was easy for Naruto in the slightest. Yet each time he was hit, Naruto learned from his mistakes and didn't make them a second time. Now, instead of seven droids firing at him, Obi-wan set twelve to target his Padawan. Five hours of this had showed Obi-wan the true breath of Naruto's skill and he was not disappointed in the slightest. It would seem that Naruto had found a reason to push himself harder in his physical training.

"Again."

"Again."

"Again."

By the time the day ended, Naruto could barely find the strength to crawl back into his bed, let alone undress himself properly. Sleep was quick to find the young Padawan and never before had it felt so wonderful to simply close his eyes and drift off into sweet nothingness. The next few weeks felt like a blur to Naruto, between training and meditation, and it had honestly surprised the blonde that he hadn't been called to the council after his outburst on his last mission. Obi-wan responded to Naruto's question by stating that he wouldn't be much of a master if he went to the council about every little thing. It was his duty to help Naruto through his trials and not the council's.

Ahsoka had come by as often as she could, with the two of them now spending most of their time in the simulators fighting hologram representations of Separatist forces. It had actually been Ahsoka's idea for them to do this, so that they could both become more capable when fighting out on the front lines with their masters. Their teamwork improved at an astounding rate, as noted by both Obi-wan and Anakin, and many other Jedi were beginning to think that the two of them were somehow clones of their respective masters. In fact, the two Padawans were currently practicing switching between defending and attacking advancing droid forces. Naruto was currently deflecting several blaster bolts while running alongside Ahsoka, who was cutting the fake droids to pieces.

"Switch!" Ahsoka shouted and, like a well oiled machine, both Padawans changed their positions so that Naruto was now attacking while Ahsoka was defending him.

"Hm, most impressive they are," commented Grand Master Yoda, who was watching the two Padawans along with both their masters.

"Indeed, their training has come along nicely, although I have a feeling that there is something else on your mind, Master Yoda," said Anakin as he broke his gaze away from the two Padawans, instead deciding to look down at the old Jedi Master.

"Unusual Padawan Uzumaki is, a talent in the force he has yet never shown it before he has not. A midichlorian count, wish to run I do," Yoda said in his normal broken galactic basic, causing both Anakin and Obi-wan to share a curious glance.

"My I inquire as to why?" Obi-wan questioned.

"A theory I have, but do this without his consent I will not."

"Sirs, and incoming transmission just came in for Knight Skywalker. It would appear that Senator Padme Amidala has been taken by Separatist forces on the planet Naboo."

'Here we go again.'


End file.
